News and press releases

VIENNA, 11 April 2016 – Preventing the exploitation of human trafficking victims through forced criminality is the focus of the 2016 Alliance conference, a two-day forum where leading experts from governmental as well as non-governmental organizations will discuss how to tackle this complex form of abuse.

VIENNA, 11 April 2016 – On the 17th anniversary of the murder of prominent journalist Slavko Ćuruvija, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today called on the government of Serbia to end impunity for crimes committed against journalists...

On 9 April, an SMM patrol, comprised of five members in two armoured vehicles, was in Zhovanka, a government-controlled part of Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk). The patrol was accompanied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces head of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) office in Toretsk...

In Donetsk region, the SMM observed a significantly higher number of ceasefire violations. In Luhansk region a low number of ceasefire violations were recorded. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons and noted weapons in violation. It observed craters and other damage caused by shelling. The SMM noted that the only entry-exit checkpoint for civilians in Luhansk region, at Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, was closed. The Mission visited two border crossing points in areas not controlled by the Government, despite denials of access in these areas. It encountered other freedom-of-movement restrictions in non-government-controlled areas.* The SMM monitored a court hearing and sentencing in Kyiv, as well as a public demonstration outside the Presidential Administration building...

BISHKEK, 9 April, 2016 – Thirty-five young people gathered in Bishkek today for the start of a two-day Model OSCE conference, simulating a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, to discuss challenges to cross-border water management in Central Asia...

BERLIN, 9 April 2016- Gernot Erler, Special Representative of the Federal Government of Germany for the OSCE Chairmanship, today issued the following statement on OSCE reports of increasing violations of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and on the safety of OSCE monitors:...

In Donetsk region, the SMM observed a slightly higher number of ceasefire violations. In Luhansk region a low number of ceasefire violations were recorded. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons, and noted weapons missing from storage sites, as well as weapons in violation. The Mission visited two border crossing points in areas not controlled by the Government, despite denial of access to several border areas. It encountered other of freedom-of-movement restrictions in non-government-controlled areas.* An SMM vehicle was hit by a bullet and an SMM monitor was threatened at gunpoint...