News and press releases

The SMM observed a high number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, similar to the level observed on the previous day. With the exception of Stanytsia Luhanska, Luhansk region remained largely calm. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons, and noted armoured combat vehicles in the security zone. The Mission’s freedom of movement was restricted several times, mostly in areas not controlled by the Government, and once at a Ukrainian Armed Forces permanent storage site...

ASTANA, 31 May 2016 – Expressing a strong belief in the role of inter-parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative for Central and Eastern Asia, Austrian parliamentarian Christine Muttonen, today called for greater unity and co-operation across the OSCE area in countering violent extremism...

BISHKEK, 31 May 2016 – To mark International Children’s Day on 1 June, the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry in co-ordination with the OSCE Centre in Bishkek organized a roundtable discussion on child trafficking, bringing together 25 representatives of state agencies, parliament, international organizations, civil society and the media...

Corruption risks, challenges in accountability and transparency as well as the legislative and regulatory frameworks in public procurement, customs and taxation, free competition and monopolies, were the focus of a workshop supported by the OSCE Office in Yerevan held on 28 and 29 May 2016 in Aghveran, in Armenia’s Kotayk region...

BERLIN, 31 May 2016 – To develop a powerful message against violent extremism, the OSCE in partnership with eYeka, a global community of talented creators, has launched a design contest today, the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier announced. Under the #LetsDoodle hashtag, the contest invites artists and designers to develop a cartoon character that will challenge the binary, us versus them, black-and-white thinking that often underpins violent extremist narratives...

The OSCE Mission to Moldova held the second in a year-long series of Civil Society Club meetings for NGOs from the left bank of the Dniester/Nistru River, which took place on 26 May 2016 in Chisinau and brought together 18 NGO representatives...

BERLIN, 31 May 2016 – Violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism can only be effectively addressed through a broad range of measures, co-ordinated in a joint international effort, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said today as they opened a high-level OSCE-wide Counter-Terrorism Conference in Berlin...