News and press releases

On 15 December 2021 in Nur-Sultan, Volker Frobarth, Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan and Nail Akhmetzakirov, Head of the Department for Provision of Courts’ Activity under the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the extra budgetary project on Improving the Effectiveness of the Justice System in Kazakhstan.

On the morning of 20 December, the armed formations in Luhansk region denied the Mission passage to an electricity box, part of the power supply to the SMM’s camera system in the disengagement area near Zolote. The box was located 100m south of the southern edge of the disengagement area. The SMM patrol, embedded with two technical specialists, was travelling from the direction of Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, non-government-controlled, 50km west of Luhansk)...

Summary In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 17 and 19 December, the SMM recorded 219 ceasefire violations, including 42 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 101 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, between the evenings of 17 and 19 December, the Mission

VIENNA, 20 December 2021 – In response to the recent parliamentary approval of a draft bill that excludes companies from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) to hold broadcasting licenses in Poland, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro today reiterated her concern for its wider implications for media freedom and called on President Andrzej Duda to veto it.

On 17 December 2021, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro met with the Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the OSCE, Ambassador Michael Carpenter. They discussed current developments on media freedom and freedom of expression in the United States and the wider OSCE region.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the Independent Media Commission (IMC) have launched a campaign to engage the public in contributing to better audio-visual media content, and ensuring broadcasters abide by the law and code of conduct.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro launched an awareness-raising campaign against hate speech on 20 December. The campaign highlights the importance of advocacy efforts to stop hate speech online.