News and press releases

The SMM noted a number of instances of artillery fire in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM on 21 September met the leader of an irregular armed group – a self-styled Cossack commander – in Pervomais’k (70km north-west of Luhansk city). He insisted on being told in advance of any future SMM visit to territory controlled by him, saying the SMM’s security could not be guaranteed otherwise. The “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”) has previously told the SMM that the “commander” in question is not under the command or control of the “LPR”. (See Daily Report 139/2014)

COPENHAGEN, 23 September 2014-- The first in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Helsinki +40 series of international seminars aimed at fomenting reform of the OSCE takes place this Thursday, 25 September, in Moscow...

The SMM continued to monitor the full range of issues within its mandate, with a particular focus on compliance with the provisions of the memorandum signed on 19 September in Minsk. It also observed rallies in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa against the Russian Federation’s policy towards Ukraine...

TASHKENT, 22 September 2014 – An OSCE-organized workshop on a National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorism financing for officials from 15 different ministries and agencies involved in the implementation of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism standards in Uzbekistan took place today in Tashkent...

WARSAW, 22 September 2014 – OSCE participating States have to focus on the most vulnerable in particular if their efforts to defend human rights are to effectively promote security, speakers said at the opening of the OSCE Human Dimension Meeting in Warsaw today...

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) presented their Handbook on Observing and Promoting the Participation of National Minorities in Electoral Processes at a side event on the first day of the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw on 22 September 2014.

COPENHAGEN, 22 September 2014 – OSCE parliamentarians will observe next month’s parliamentary elections in Ukraine and lead the short-term OSCE observer mission...