News and press releases

On World Water Day, marked on 22 March, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) calls on the sides to ensure all people are provided with a reliable supply of water. Hostilities in the conflict-affected east of Ukraine continue to damage water infrastructure, critical to the survival of the civilian population, and disrupt access to sufficient, safe, acceptable and affordable water for people and businesses...

The SMM observed a decrease in the number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared to previous days. The situation in Luhansk region remained stable. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. It observed a calm situation at border areas not controlled by the Government, and elsewhere faced restrictions to its freedom of movement*. The SMM monitored the humanitarian situation and freedom of movement for civilians near the contact line, and observed public gatherings in Kyiv and Kharkiv...

SARAJEVO, 22 March 2016- A conference on consequence management in response to an act of terrorism, organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Ministry of Security of BiH, gathered today over sixty participants from the security and judicial sectors. The conference aimed to strengthen capacities in managing terrorist related incidents and furthering inter-agency co-operation and co-ordination...

WARSAW, 22 March 2016 Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), expressed concerns today over the conviction by a Russian court of Nadiya Savchenko, a Ukrainian air-force pilot, for complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists in June 2014...

BERLIN/VIENNA, 22 March 2016- OSCE Chairperson in Office, Federal Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier condemned today’s terrorist attacks in Brussels in strongest terms and offered their heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, the Belgian people and Government, and wished a speedy recovery to the many injured. They stressed the solidarity and the determination of the OSCE to contribute to the fight against terrorism...

COPENHAGEN, 22 March 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) issued the following statement on today's terrorist attacks in Brussels...

Water is a strategic resource and an essential element of prosperity, security and stability. Committed water professionals contribute to sustainable water management and peaceful societies, said OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, on the occasion of 22 March, World Water Day, devoted to ‘Water and Jobs’...