News and press releases

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe donated computer equipment to the Training Centre of the Committee of Emergency Situation and Civil Defence of Tajikistan on 12 April 2019 in Dushanbe...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM followed up on reports of a woman injured due to shelling in Staromykhailivka on 8 April and the death of a member of State Emergency Services near Maiorsk on 9 April. The Mission saw fresh damage from shelling in Zolote-3/Stakhanovets and fresh impact craters near populated areas in Orlivka. Shots were fired close to the Mission near a compound of the armed formations in Smile on 11 April. The SMM recorded a ceasefire violation inside the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas near Zernove, Michurine, Smile and Starolaspa. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. It heard ceasefire violations while monitoring adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to a water pipe near Kruta Balka. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. The Mission was also denied access at two heavy weapons holding areas in non-government areas of Donetsk region, at a compound near Smile and near Izvaryne close to the border with the Russian Federation...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The Mission saw gunfire damage and a crater at a functioning school in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government controlled areas. It saw unexploded ordnance near Debaltseve and the Donetsk Filtration Station and mines in Trokhizbenka. The SMM saw mine hazard signs in Krasnyi Lyman and Pryshyb and demining activities in Volnovakha. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. It was also restricted at a checkpoint near Zaichenko...

COPENHAGEN, 12 April 2019 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is deploying nearly 50 observers, including 31 parliamentarians, to North Macedonia next week for the 21 April presidential election. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office has appointed French parliamentarian Sereine Mauborgne as Special Co-ordinator to lead the short-term OSCE observer mission. Austrian parliamentarian Reinhold Lopatka will lead the OSCE PA’s delegation of observers...

A three-day training course aimed at further strengthening the capacity of Albania to counter terrorist financing was organized from 10 to 12 April 2019, in Tirana...

The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek supported the bringing together of more than 80 representatives of religious organizations and communities of Kyrgyzstan for a tree-planting event in the capital on 6 April 2019. Some 100 trees were planted during the event, which aimed at enhancing inter-confessional dialogue, promoting inter-religious tolerance and raising public awareness about the denominations represented in the country.

Some 70 experts and practitioners involved in multilingual education shared their experiences at a conference on “Multilingual education in the OSCE region: experiences and perspectives for Moldova” on 11 April 2019 in Chisinau. The conference was organized by the office of the OSCE High