News and press releases

BERN, 13 December 2014 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter welcomed ongoing international efforts at various levels following the 21st OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel on 4 and 5 December aimed at restoring peace and stability in eastern Ukraine, including the work of the Trilateral Contact Group consisting of senior representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. The Contact Group has met several times since the Ministerial Council to explore ways forward.

On 12 December 2014 at 07:50 (Moscow time), a Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 83 vehicles were inspected by the Russian border guard and customs services. All the vehicles crossed back into the Russian Federation (RF) at 19:47 on December 12. This was the ninth Russian convoy to cross the border into Ukraine, and the eight crossing through the Donetsk BCP since the arrival of the Observer Mission (OM) at the Russian BCPs.

An SMM patrol of two vehicles was stopped and threatened by “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”) forces in Pyschevyk (23km North-East of Mariupol city, located in the security zone).

The SMM continued to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum and the work of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC). Very few incidents involving the use of weapons were reported to or witnessed by the SMM...

VIENNA, 12 December 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today denounced the continued oppression of free media in Belarus, following recent and repeated persecutions of journalists and members of the independent Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ)...

Twenty-six women officials of the Border Guard, Border Police, Customs Services and Police from 11 OSCE participating States completed a five-day training course in Iasi, Romania on 12 December 2014 on border security and management. The course was organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department...

ASTANA, 12 December 2014 – Current challenges in employing prison inmates and ways to facilitating their reintegration into the community were the main topics of the Second Forum on Penitentiary Reform in Kazakhstan held today in Astana...