News and press releases

BAKU/BUDAPEST, 22 September 2014 – The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Baku, in co-operation with the Interior Ministry of Hungary is supporting a five-day visit to Hungary, which starts today, by representatives of Azerbaijan’s government and civil society working on preventing and combatting human trafficking...

KYIV, 21 September, 2014 –We welcome the Memorandum of 19 September 2014 on concrete steps to be taken to de-escalate the situation in eastern Ukraine...

The SMM continued to monitor the non-use of weapons provision of the Minsk Protocol, noting sporadic shelling around Donetsk and Mariupol cities, and in an area west of Luhansk city. Elsewhere in Donbas, however, calm prevailed, most notably in Luhansk city, where, in addition to a cessation of violence, normal services are beginning to be restored...

BERN, September 20 2014- Didier Burkhalter, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister, noted with satisfaction the signing of a Memorandum on 19 September, 2014, outlining the parameters for the implementation of the cease-fire commitments laid down in the Minsk Protocol of 5 September 2014...

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Astrid Thors visited Ukraine from 15 to 17 September 2014 to take stock of the situation since her last visit. She said that while the situation remains extremely tense and challenging, there are positive developments, including the ceasefire following the signing of the Minsk Protocol on 5 September 2014.

Identifying needs and possible strategies to address human rights priorities in Ukraine was the focus of a meeting organized by OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw on 18 and 19 September 2014. The consultation meeting, with participation of 23 representatives

The SMM continued to carry out activities related to the monitoring of non-use of weapons in areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Interlocutors from the Crimean Tatar community informed the SMM that the building of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People in Simferopol had been searched by Russian Security Services...