The FINANCIAL — The EU is stepping up its support for the work of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) with a further €18 million for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), bringing to €25 million its total support to the mission. The funding should increase the SMM’s capacity to monitor the ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons in eastern Ukraine, as foreseen in the Minsk agreements.
The latest support will be used to fund SMM monitors and satellite imagery and analysis (to be provided by the EU Satellite Centre) as well as other complementary monitoring tools, according to EU Neighbourhood Info.
In addition to its financial assistance, the EU has supported the SMM since the beginning of its deployment through the donation of equipment, including 24 armoured vehicles, and is currently in talks to supply up to 43 additional armoured vehicles. The EU has also provided 40 unarmoured vehicles, medical equipment, training for monitors and support for the SMM’s planning capacity.
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