7 Mar 2014 15:55

OSCE observers barred from entering Crimea once again - ministry

KYIV. March 7 (Interfax) - Military observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) were not allowed onto Crimean territory on Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinys said on Friday.

The OSCE mission made another attempt to get into Crimea but was stopped at checkpoints, he said.

A day earlier the group of OSCE observers was stopped near the town of Armyansk and told it needed permission from the Crimean authorities, which it did not have.

The OSCE mission is in Ukraine on March 5 - 12 and consists of 40 observers from 21 countries. The observers were planning to visit the facilities of the Ukrainian armed forces and the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Crimean territory.