OSCE Chief Monitor in Ukraine welcomes extension to the Special Monitoring Mission’s mandate
KYIV, 13 March 2015 - Head of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan thanked all 57 OSCE participating States for their continued support for the Mission, following their consensus decision of 12 March 2015 to extend the Mission’s mandate to 31 March 2016. “The Mission is now able to continue to play its important role in assisting Ukraine to achieve peace and stability,” Apakan said.
“Since the establishment of the Special Monitoring Mission, we have come a long way and have achieved a lot, often under challenging circumstances. The extension of our mandate means that we will continue to effectively respond to the situation on the ground.”
The Chief Monitor called on all sides to co-operate with the Mission and provide secure and unfettered access for its monitors to perform their duties. He also welcomed the actions by all sides in implementing the 12 February Package of Measures towards compliance with the Minsk documents.