Luxembourg, 22/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 19 June, the European Union announced that it was stepping up its support for the special monitoring mission in Ukraine of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with a further €18 million in assistance. This brings the total amount of European Commission support for this OSCE mission to €25 million.
The additional assistance should increase the mission's capacity to monitor and verify the ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons in Ukraine, as provided for in the Minsk agreements.
A third (€6 million) of the €18 million package will be used to fund the mission's monitors, and the rest will be used for the satellite imagery and analysis provided by the EU Satellite Centre, and for other complementary monitoring tools. The assistance comes from the EU's Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace.
The EU and its member states contribute around two thirds of the mission's budget, and the majority of the mission's monitors are EU nationals. In addition to its financial aid, the EU has provided equipment - including 24 armoured vehicles and 40 unarmoured ones, medical equipment, training and support for the mission's planning capacity. Discussions are also under way for the supply of another 43 armoured vehicles. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)