New OSCE Chairperson-in-Office will pay his first visit to eastern Ukraine

Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said he would visit Ukraine, particularly the eastern part of the country, and this would be his first visit as a chairperson of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

He stated this at a press conference on the occasion of the beginning of the position, European Pravda reports.

"I am going to pay my first visit to Ukraine as the head of the OSCE. I will definitely visit the eastern part of the country to find out what the situation is there," Rau said.

According to him, the priority issue for the Polish chairship in the OSCE is the state of civilians in areas of armed conflict. "This will be a very important part of my attention during my visit to Ukraine," Rau added.

Earlier, the Polish minister said that the risk of war in Europe today was much higher than ever in the last 30 years.

At a meeting on January 12 in Brussels, NATO states denied Russia its demands regarding non-expansion of NATO and the presence of the bloc's troops on its eastern flank.