The decision by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council to extend the mandate of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) for another twelve months, while also bolstering funding, is a positive one, the organization's chairperson-in-office Edi Rama said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2020) The decision by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council to extend the mandate of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) for another twelve months, while also bolstering funding, is a positive one, the organization's chairperson-in-office Edi Rama said on Friday.
"The mandate renewal will ensure the SMM continues to make a huge difference on the ground. The additional finance that participating States have committed will support the Mission's monitoring capacity and improve the safety and security of SMM staff, including through deploying and sustaining more monitoring officers, increasing its technical capabilities, and replacing its assets in accordance with the required standards," Rama said in a published statement.
The SMM now has a mandate to continue operations until March 31, 2021, and Rama praised the mission's staff, saying that he observed their work during a visit to Ukraine in January.
"I had the privilege to see their work first hand on my recent trip to Ukraine. They are our eyes and ears on the ground, helping also to prevent further escalation. I am delighted that the OSCE participating States have supported this package to reinforce the Mission's work," Rama, who also serves as Albania's Prime Minister, remarked.
Rama visited Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in late February. The OSCE chairperson-in-office reiterated his organization's support for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements in the Donbas region.
The Minsk agreements were adopted to de-escalate the ongoing conflict in the Donbas region, between Ukrainian forces and the self-declared people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. A package of measures was signed in February 2015, calling for a ceasefire, de-militarization and a political settlement in the region.
