TBILISI, 16 April – Today, EUMM hosted a delegation led by the Permanent Representative of Finland to the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe), Ambassador Vesa Häkkinen, on a patrol to the South Ossetian Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) in the area of the Odzisi village. During the patrol, EUMM monitors provided the Finnish delegation with a briefing on the latest security and humanitarian developments. They explained how restrictions on the freedom of movement, including erecting physical barriers such as fences, barbed wire and watchtowers, negatively affect the conflict-affected population on both sides of the ABL.
Prior to the field patrol, the representatives of the Finnish delegation were warmly welcomed by the EUMM senior management at the Mission Headquarters in Tbilisi. They received an update on the mandate-relevant political and security developments. The representatives of the Finnish Permanent Mission to the OSCE shared with the EUMM senior management priorities for the upcoming OSCE Chairmanship, which will be held by Finland in 2025.
The Finnish delegation and the Mission senior management commended the fruitful long-term cooperation between EUMM and OSCE, particularly on co-facilitating the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM). Its 118th meeting took place in Ergneti on 20 March 2024.
At the end of the visit, the delegation members expressed their appreciation for the work of EUMM as the only international monitoring presence on the ground. The EUMM senior management thanked the representatives of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the steadfast support of EUMM.
Currently, there are 10 Finnish staff serving in the Mission.
