The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission was launched in March 2014 in response to the crisis in and around Ukraine. By extending its mandate the SMM can continue to perform and enlarge its important role within implementation of the Minsk accords by, inter alia, observing and stabilizing the ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons.

Today nearly 700 monitors work for the SMM and it is planned to increase this number to 800 monitors until the end of March 2016. The monitors provide objective data on compliance with the ceasefire and on the withdrawal of weapons in eastern Ukraine. Unfortunately, the ceasefire remains fragile and the Mission still does not have full access to the entire conflict zone.

The Mission intends to enlarge its operational and geographical scope of activities and to strengthen its technical monitoring capacities. The approved SMM budget for the period 1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017 is almost EUR 100 million.

For more information on SMM click here.