News and press releases

ULAANBAATAR, 21 June 2019 – Efforts that promote tolerance, inclusion, inter-faith and inter-cultural understanding must be critical components of any strategy to prevent and counter violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (P/CVERLT), said speakers at the opening of a high-level inter-regional conference in Ulaanbaatar yesterday.

Thirty-two representatives of Kyrgyzstan’s State Border Service from across the country have successfully completed a five-day training course on verification and recognition of falsified documents...

The Second Annual Summer School of Young Politicians concluded on 19 June 2019. It was organized by the Legal Prosperity Foundation and supported by the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek...

SARAJEVO, 21 June 2019 – Concluding his two-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovakia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Miroslav Lajčák, stressed the need to explore all avenues to get the country back on track, including through adopting key reforms...

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) hosted consultations between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on 20 June in Washington. The Co-Chairs met separately and then jointly with the Ministers. They also briefed Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker on the situation on the ground and the status of settlement talks. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk also took part in these meetings.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. One civilian was injured by shelling in Donetsk city. The Mission saw fresh damage from shelling to facilities part of a children’s hospital in Donetsk city. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas, including multiple launch rocket systems near Miusynsk. The SMM saw for the first time anti-tank mines near Shyrokyne and unexploded ordnance near Novooleksandrivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement area and elsewhere. Its freedom of movement was also denied at checkpoints near Novoazovsk and Novolaspa, in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region...

The Albanian government, the OSCE Presence in Albania and the Swiss Embassy signed on 18 June 2019 an agreement for implementing a project to support the Albanian parliament and citizen engagement in decision-making.