News and press releases

BELGRADE, 22 June 2015– The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić today appointed Ambassador Martin Sajdik (Austria) as his new Special Representative in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group. He follows Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini (Switzerland) who, having fulfilled this assignment for one year, expressed her wish to step down...

TIRANA, 22 June 2015 – While voters were offered a distinct choice from among a range of candidates and fundamental freedoms of expression and assembly were generally respected, the politicization of institutions involved in the 21 June local elections in Albania undermined the effective administration of the process, international observers concluded in a statement issued today...

VIENNA, 22 June 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today criticized the detention of an Al Jazeera reporter by the German authorities on the basis of an Egyptian arrest warrant, calling for his immediate release...

TASHKENT, 22 June 2015 – A two-day training course on improving judicial responses to human trafficking, organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, in co-operation with the Lawyers’ Training Centre under the Uzbek Justice Ministry, was launched today in Tashkent...

LAMPEDUSA, Italy, 20 June 2015 – The Chairperson of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), is in Lampedusa, Italy today, where she is meeting with migrants, refugees and officials at the Lampedusa First Aid and Reception Center, as well as with representatives of NGOs working to help alleviate the human crisis in the Mediterranean...

This report is for the media and the general public. The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. In the area around Donetsk airport, the SMM observed more ceasefire violations than in recent days. A fuel shortage was observed in and around Donetsk city.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations. Luhansk region remained tense, with the SMM observing shelling in several areas. The area around Donetsk airport continues to be relatively calm, though heavy fighting was observed by the SMM in Shyrokyne. The SMM observed a 41-truck convoy being unloaded in Luhansk...