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La Suisse a perdu sept rangs au classement climatique par pays et se voit devancer par le Maroc. WWF et Greenpeace se montrent critiques envers Berne.

Alors que le système de règlement des différends commerciaux devrait être paralysé à partir de ce mardi, l'Europe proposera dans les prochains jours des moyens de renforcer son arsenal de sanctions contre les pays qui adoptent des mesures commerciales illégales.

Luxembourg will implement a levy of €20 per tonne of carbon from 2021, as part of its efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by the end of the next decade.

Mások mellett a DJ Mag éllovasai, a Dimitri Vegas és Like Mike duó, Martin Garrix és Kygo is fellép a jövő évi Balaton Soundon 2020. július 8-12. között Zamárdiban - közölték a szervezők kedden az MTI-vel.

Concurrencés par le gaz, les réseaux de chaleur tardent à se développer en France. Pour atteindre les objectifs fixés par la loi de transition énergétique, les subventions publiques vont être revues à la hausse. Un article de notre partenaire La Tribune.

This report is for the media and the general public.

SUMMARY

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons decreased at both BCPs compared to the previous week. The ninety-second Russian convoy crossed into Ukraine and returned through the Donetsk BCP.

OPERATIONAL REMARKS

The OM is currently operating with 22 permanent international staff members, including the Chief Observer (CO). The Mission is supported administratively by a staff member and the Chief of Fund Administration based in Vienna.

OBSERVATIONS AT THE BORDER CROSSING POINTS

Persons crossing the border                                                                                                                                                                              

The profile of persons crossing the border can be categorized as follows:

1. Adults travelling on foot or by car with little or no luggage;
2. Persons in military-style outfits;
3. Families (often including elderly persons and/or children) travelling on foot or by car with a significant amount of luggage.

The average number of entries/exits decreased from 10,485 to 10,180 per day at both BCPs compared to last week[1].

During the reporting period, the majority of border crossings were to the Russian Federation, with an average net flow of 31 per day for both BCPs.

The Donetsk BCP continued to experience much more traffic than the Gukovo BCP.

Persons in military-style outfits

During the reporting period, the number of persons in military-style outfits crossing the border in both directions at both BCPs was 15 this week compared to 20 last week: nine of them crossed into the Russian Federation, and six into Ukraine (80 per cent of this category’s crossings occurred at the Donetsk BCP). They continued to cross the border individually or in groups. Most individuals crossed on foot, however, some made use of private vehicles, buses or minivans, making it more difficult for the observer teams (OTs) to observe their movement across the border, especially since some of the private vehicles had tinted windows, and buses and minivans had drawn curtains.

Families with a significant amount of luggage

The OTs continued to report on families, sometimes with elderly persons and/or children, crossing the border at both BCPs with a significant amount of luggage, or travelling in heavily loaded cars. During this reporting week, seven families were observed crossing into the Russian Federation and seven families were observed crossing into Ukraine, compared to the previous reporting period when no families were observed crossing to the Russian Federation and four into Ukraine.

Bus connections                                         

Regular local and long-distance bus connections continued to operate between Ukraine (mostly from/to the Luhansk region) and the Russian Federation. In addition to regular bus connections, the OTs continued to observe bus connections on irregular routes. Often the buses did not state their route; instead they had a sign on the windshield stating “irregular”.

During the reporting period, the OTs observed a decrease in the overall number of buses crossing the border at both BCPs (433 compared to 457 observed during the previous week). There were 224 buses bound for the Russian Federation and 209 bound for Ukraine.

On some occasions, the OTs noticed the bus drivers removing the itinerary signs from the windshields of their buses, while some buses did not display their route at all. The majority of long-distance buses commuting between the Luhansk region and cities in the Russian Federation had Ukrainian licence plates issued in the Luhansk region and “LPR” plates.

Among the bus connections observed by the OTs, the following “irregular” route or destination was noted: Luhansk-Kiev.

Trucks

During the reporting period, the OTs observed 897 trucks (compared to 769 during the previous reporting week) crossing the border in both directions at both BCPs (469 at the Gukovo BCP and 428 at the Donetsk BCP); 481 of these trucks crossed into the Russian Federation and 416 crossed into Ukraine. Most of the trucks observed by the OTs had Ukrainian licence plates issued in the Luhansk region; however, on a daily basis, the OTs also noted trucks registered in Belarus, Lithuania and the Russian Federation and with “LPR” plates.

The OTs also continued to observe tanker trucks crossing the border in both directions. During the reporting week, the number of tanker trucks slightly increased from 59 to 65. These trucks were observed crossing the border at both BCPs. The trucks had the words “Propane” and “Flammable” written across the tanks in either Russian or Ukrainian. The majority of tanker trucks had hazard signs, indicating that they were transporting propane or a mix of propane and butane.

All trucks underwent systematic inspection by Russian Federation officials, which could include an X-ray check. Due to the unfavourable observation position at the Gukovo BCP, the OTs continued to be unable to observe any X-ray checks.

Compared to the previous week, the total number of X-ray checks at the Donetsk BCP decreased from 135 to 108; 90 trucks (83 per cent) were bound for Ukraine, the remaining 18 trucks (17 per cent) crossed into the Russian Federation.

Minivans

The OM continued to observe passenger and cargo minivans[2] crossing the border in both directions at both BCPs. The OTs observed minivans predominantly with Ukrainian licence plates issued in the Luhansk region; however, the OTs also frequently saw minivans registered in the Russian Federation. Compared to the previous week, the number of cargo minivans increased from 126 to 154 vehicles; 67 crossed into the Russian Federation and another 87 into Ukraine.

Trains

The OTs continued to pick up the sound of trains on the railway tracks located approximately 150m south-west of the Gukovo BCP. During the reporting week, the OTs heard trains on 12 occasions; the OTs assessed that eight trains were travelling to the Russian Federation and four to Ukraine (more details are provided in the sections “trends and figures at a glance” below).

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine was regularly informed about the trains bound for Ukraine.

Visual observation was not possible because of the line of trees located between the train tracks and the BCP.

Other observations

The majority of vehicles crossing the border had Ukrainian licence plates issued in the Luhansk region, or Russian Federation licence plates. A significant number of vehicles with “LPR” plates were also observed crossing the border in both directions on a daily basis. The OTs also observed cars with “DPR” plates and licence plates from Georgia.

On 4 December at 20:50, the OT observed a police minivan with two police officers inside entering the Donetsk BCP from the Russian Federation. The police car parked in the checking area and was partially visible to the OT. At 20:48, the vehicle drove back towards the Russian Federation. One civilian was observed inside the vehicle, in addition to the police officers.

On 7 December at 23:31, an ambulance with Russian Federation licence plates arrived at the Donetsk BCP from the Russian Federation side. The ambulance bore the inscription “urgent medical help” (in Russian). Two paramedics and a driver were observed inside. The vehicle parked at the main building; the two paramedics then entered the building. At 23:40, they both returned to the vehicle and the ambulance left towards the Russian Federation. 

Convoy

On 5 December at 06:20 (Moscow time), the ninety-second[3] Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk BCP. A total of ten vehicles were checked by Russian Federation border guards and customs officers prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All ten vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 12:35 on 5 December. Ukrainian border guards and custom officers were present during the checking processes. A Spot Report was distributed to participating States the same day.

See OM Spot Report of 5 December 2019: https://www.osce.org/observer-mission-at-russian-checkpoints-gukovo-and-donetsk/441206

For trends and figures at a glance covering the period from 5 November to 10 December 2019, please see the attachment here

[1] Based on data received from the Regional Representation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

[2] Cargo minivans: light commercial vehicles with a maximum authorized mass of more than 3.5 t and not more than 7.5 t; with or without a trailer with a maximum mass of less than 750 kg (small cargo vehicles which correspond to driving licence C1).                  

[3] Based on the Observer Mission’s counting, this convoy is considered the ninety-second convoy that has crossed into Ukraine through the “Donetsk” or “Gukovo” BCPs. However, so far all these convoys crossed through the “Donetsk” BCP.

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