OSCE Chairperson-in-Office welcomes extension of SMM mandate – calls for continued support for monitors on the ground

VIENNA, 30 March 2019 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, Miroslav Lajčák, welcomed yesterday's OSCE Permanent Council decision to renew the mandate of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) by another year, and called for continued support for the international monitors and national staff on the ground.

The Chairperson-in-Office recalled that the SMM was mandated to establish and report facts in response to specific incidents and to report incidents, including those concerning alleged violations of fundamental OSCE principles and commitments, throughout Ukraine.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to the women and men of the Mission, who - for five years now - have been working every day, under challenging circumstances, to carry out their crucial tasks as the principal and largest international monitoring presence on the ground. They deserve our gratitude and our support,” Mr. Lajčák said. “The monitors are the eyes and ears of the organization – and indeed, of the international community - and they directly contribute to the prevention of further escalation,” he added.