News and press releases

BELGRADE, 28 April 2015 – OSCE Chairperson in Office, Foreign Minister of Serbia Ivica Dačić, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter met in Belgrade today at the Ministerial Meeting of the OSCE Troika. During the meeting, the Foreign Ministers of Serbia, Switzerland and Germany, together with the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, had an extensive exchange of views on different aspects of the situation in and around Ukraine. They reiterated that this crisis can be resolved only through peaceful means and that the political process in that regard should be advanced without delay...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations. The SMM observed that the security situation around the Donetsk airport has seriously deteriorated. The SMM continued to monitor the situation in the area of Shyrokyne and for the first time was not prevented from visiting adjacent villages...

COPENHAGEN, 27 April 2015 – A military advance by illegal separatists in Ukraine on the city of Mariupol could have “disastrous consequences” for efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the country, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) said today following a meeting of the Assembly’s Bureau in the Danish Parliament...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The SMM continued to observe ceasefire violations in and around the wider area of Donetsk airport and Avdiivka, while in Shyrokyne the SMM observed the most intense fighting since February 2015...

On 26 April, the SMM observed what it assessed to be the most intense shelling in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) since fighting began in the area in mid-February 2015. For the last 12 hours, and on-going at the time of this report, the SMM has observed sporadic to continuous exchanges of fire involving small arms, machine gun, rocket propelled grenade and automatic grenade launcher.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The SMM discussed a demilitarization plan for Shyrokyne. The SMM held a round table involving pro and anti-Maidan activists in Odessa.

KYIV, 24 April 2015 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), was joined in Kyiv today by Valeriya Lutkovska, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner, for the launch of ODIHR’s new two-year project. Following Director Link’s public lecture on the subject of civil society, democracy and human rights, ODIHR engaged representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the civil society and academia in a panel discussion on the vital role civil society plays as Ukraine takes critical steps to advance democracy, protect human rights and address discrimination.