The extension of the mandate of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine is absolutely necessary, and Poland will make every effort for this, Polish Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman Zbigniew Rau said.

Rau said at a press conference on Thursday that if seriously thinking about comprehensive security which must be shared by all, the extension of the Mission's mandate is absolutely necessary. He said it gives him the hope that this will happen. And he also assured that the Polish presidency would make every effort to bring the extension of the Mission to a successful conclusion.

In turn, OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid pointed out that one of the key problems of the OSCE SMM was restrictions on the freedom of movement of observers and civilians. She said that the opportunities for crossing had dropped by 95%, which is a huge problem for civilians because it prevents them from having access to their pensions, education or health facilities.

At the same time, the OSCE Secretary General called the reduction in violations of the ceasefire regime as positive news. Schmid said that their Special Representative, the work that the OSCE is doing in the Trilateral Contact Group would be very important to ensure its [ceasefire] stability.