News and press releases

On 24 November, at 10:39, an SMM patrol consisting of two vehicles and five people arrived from Donetsk city at a checkpoint of the armed formations near Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk), travelling to government-controlled areas. At the checkpoint, two visibly armed members of the armed formations denied the Mission passage, citing a “lack of permission” for the SMM to cross. At 14:54, the patrol returned to Donetsk city...

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 376 ceasefire violations, including 230 explosions, eight of which were assessed as a live-fire training exercise outside of the security zone. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 163 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the

Translators and proof-readers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Kosovo Police were trained on using computer-assisted translation software during a two-day workshop organized by the OSCE Mission to Kosovo on 18 and 19 November 2021.

On 23 November 2021, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Teresa Ribeiro met with Ambassador Vesa Häkkinen to discuss current developments on media freedom and freedom of expression in Finland and the wider OSCE region. They addressed several topics, including the importance of promoting media literacy as a tool to counter dissemination of misinformation and strengthen freedom of opinion and expression. They agreed that an official visit by the Representative to Finland would be an excellent opportunity to gain first-hand insight into Finland’s experiences in media literacy.

VIENNA/SARJEVO, 24 November 2021 – Following meetings with the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid made the following statement:

Between 09:45 and 10:00 on 23 November, an SMM patrol consisting of two vehicles and five people arrived from government-controlled areas at about 350m north of the southern edge of the disengagement area near Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) to travel to non-government-controlled areas. Two members of the armed formations (wearing armbands with “JCCC” written on them) denied the Mission passage, citing “orders from their superiors”. At 10:05, the patrol left the area and proceeded towards Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk)...

Summary In Donetsk region, the Mission recorded 163 ceasefire violations, including 39 explosions. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 122 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded 36 ceasefire violations, including 14 explosions. In the previous 24 hours, it