EU increases support for OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

The European Union on Friday said it was stepping up support for the work of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) with a further 18 million euros (20.41 million U.S. dollars) assistance package for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM).

According to a press release issued by the European External Action Service, or the foreign policy arm of the EU, the fresh assistance package will bring the total amount of European Commission support to the SMM to 25 million euros, with the aim to increase the SMM's capacity to "monitor and verify the ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons in eastern Ukraine, as foreseen in the Minsk agreements."

About six million euros of the fresh assistance package will be used to fund SMM monitors, and the other part will be used for satellite imagery and analysis, which would be provided by the EU Satellite Centre, as well as other complementary monitoring tools.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the EU was deploying all the tools at its disposal to support the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, noting that the EU was the biggest contributor to the OSCE's SMM.

According to the press release, the EU and its Member States contribute around two thirds of the SMM budget, and the majority of SMM monitors are EU nationals. Endit