VIENNA, Austria: The 57 participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSEC) have unanimously decided to extend the mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine till March 31, 2022.
The decision was made by the OSCE Permanent Council at its Special Meeting in Vienna on Wednesday.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission was deployed to eastern Ukraine on March 21, 2014 following a request by the Kyiv government.
In Ukraine, the Mission’s main tasks are to observe and report in an impartial and objective way on the situation and to facilitate dialogue among all parties to the crisis in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Meanwhile, the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Y. Halit Çevik has welcomed the extension of the SMM’s mandate.
“The unanimous decision of the 57 OSCE participating States to extend the mandate for another year signals continuing support for the OSCE SMM, and commitment to reducing tensions and fostering peace, stability and security in Ukraine,” the Chief Monitor said.
In its meeting, the OSCE Permanent Council also approved the budget of the Special Monitoring Mission for the new one-year period from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
