Mr. Erwan Fouéré:

Mr. Gorbachev is a person whom I admire greatly, but I was a little disappointed by his statement. I felt he could have been a little more balanced and said the blame lay on both sides. Obviously, he may be under pressure in his own country because there is a lot of pressure exerted on those who even remotely criticise President Putin's policies in general. Mr. Gorbachev's statement was too easy. While the European Union certainly could have done things in a better way, there is no other way but for the Union and Russia to engage in substantive dialogue and Ukraine to demonstrate that the future does require a more courageous approach in terms of the recognition of language rights and so on. This can only be done through dialogue. The major problem is to whom does one talk in the east. That is why we believe there needs to be an effort to identify those moderate elements whose voices have been drowned out by the self-elected so-called leaders. This is where the OSCE plays such a critical role.

I was one of those asked to engage in some mediation coaching for the OSCE special monitoring mission when it was established in April and one of the elements we highlighted was that the OSCE's role was not just to provide objective information on the position on the ground but also to facilitate dialogue between all of the different groups involved. I agree wholeheartedly that the OSCE, as the only international actor on the ground up to July when the European Union set up its own civilian security sector reform mission which is under way, provides the best possible avenue for promoting the dialogue process and involves Russia. Russia is part of the OSCE and it is absolutely vital that the efforts of the current chairmanship continue under the next chairmanship, to be held by Serbia. Ireland, during its chairmanship of the OSCE, placed particular emphasis on the importance of mediation and dialogue - we pushed very hard in the transnistria settlement process - and also the role of civil society. Ireland has a lot of experience in that field from its history and the Northern Ireland peace process. Our example was very useful in that respect. I hope the OSCE will be given sufficient resources to fulfil its functions in Ukraine because it will be through that process that we can ensure more effective dialogue between all of the different groups there.