News and press releases

VICENZA, Italy, 10 November 2017 – Practical measures to combat the illicit cross-border trafficking in cultural property in the Mediterranean Region was the focus of a five-day seminar, which concluded in Vicenza today. The seminar was designed to build the capacity of some 22 participants from national services of thirteen OSCE participating States and Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation, and of Lebanon...

An OSCE-led roundtable discussion for 30 experts and representatives of law enforcement agencies from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine, on best practices in combating corruption and other related serious crimes concluded today in Kyiv.

SKOPJE, 10 November 2017 – OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Lamberto Zannier presented the first ever children’s illustrated Macedonian-Albanian/Albanian-Macedonian dictionary for primary schools to Education Minister Renata Deskoska in Skopje today. This innovative tool was developed by the HCNM and the Nansen Dialogue Centre, Skopje, and supported financially by the German government...

Civil society organizations from the left bank (Transdniestria) and donors gathered for this year’s Donors Forum organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova in Chisinau on 8 November 2017 to reflect on the work that they have accomplished together as well as lay out plans for the future...

A five-day train-the-trainer course on human rights education for activists from different Tajik civil society organizations concluded at the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe on 10 November 2017.

An OSCE-supported three-day training seminar on risk profiling at transport facilities for 15 transport police officers from across Kazakhstan and 13 instructors of the Aktobe Law Institute under the country’s Interior Ministry concluded in Aktobe, Kazakhstan, on 10 November 2017. The seminar aimed at enhancing the capacities of Kazakhstan’s police to ensure public safety...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. In Pikuzy, a man in military-style clothing fired shots in the air within 50m of the Mission. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations in the Petrivske disengagement area and near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Kreminets and at two heavy weapons holding areas.* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Sievierodonetsk. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure near Shchastia, Novozvanivka, Artema, and Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM visited a border area not under government control. It continued to monitor a gathering outside the Parliament in Kyiv...