News and press releases

BRČKO, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 28 March 2018- The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) presented a first assessment of issues negatively impacting the quality and effectiveness of the judicial response to corruption in BiH to representatives of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies today in Brčko.

KYIV, 28 March 2018- The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) today re-introduced the use of long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which will operate over Donetsk and Luhansk regions...

GENEVA, Switzerland, 28 March 2018- The 43rd round of the Geneva International Discussions has just concluded...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed damage caused by shelling to civilian properties in residential areas of Sakhanka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and spotted military hardware, as well as previously seen mines inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including at border crossing points near Dovzhanske, Izvaryne, Sievernyi, and to Siedove (all close to the border with the Russian Federation), as well as to a heavy weapons holding area in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Lozuvatske, Pidlisne and Sievierodonetsk. The Mission continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station; it facilitated maintenance works to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema. In Kharkiv, the SMM saw flowers and candles laid outside the Consulate of the Russian Federation to commemorate the victims of the shopping mall fire in Kemerovo in the Russian Federation...

Some 100 anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing prosecutors and judges from 43 states and organizations came together in Strasbourg, France on 26 and 27 March 2018 for a workshop organized by the Strategic Police Matters Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Council of Europe's MONEYVAL monitoring body...

CHISINAU, 28 March 2018 – Franco Frattini completed his first visit to Moldova today in his capacity as the Special Representative of the Italian OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process. Meeting with high-level Moldovan officials and the leadership in Tiraspol, Frattini discussed ways to advance the settlement process within the parameters of the agreed end state endorsed by all 57 OSCE participating States, including the Republic of Moldova...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including, again, at a border crossing point near Izvaryne (near the border with the Russian Federation), at a checkpoint near Nova Marivka and at compound in Zymohiria.* The SMM observed a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines in Pobeda. The Mission continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station; it facilitated maintenance works to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema. The SMM followed up on reports of a fire at the Polish cultural centre Poska Nuta in Odessa and reports of damage to a building where the regional office of a political party is located in Dnipro.