EU boosts support for OSCE mission in Ukraine

The European Union (EU) said on Friday it has allocated an additional 3 million euros (about 3.2 million U.S. dollars) for the mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitors the situation in eastern Ukraine.

The funds, which are provided under the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP), will support the work of the OSCE special monitoring mission (SMM) in Ukraine in the area of satellite imagery, the European Commission said in a press release.

The aid will help the OSCE observers to map inaccessible areas and to report on infrastructure damage as well as on the presence and movement of people and equipment, the press release said.

The OSCE mission that was sent to Ukraine in 2014 at a request of the Ukrainian government has received about 32 million dollars from the EU under the IcSP initiative.

Currently, more than 700 unarmed OSCE observers are deployed in Ukraine, with the majority of them monitoring the ceasefire between government troops and pro-independence insurgents.

The OSCE SMM has repeatedly said it is experiencing limited access to some territories in eastern Ukraine, including the storage sites of the withdrawn weapons and the disengagement areas. 

source: Xinhua