News and press releases

VIENNA, 21 December 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, organized on 19 December in Bishkek the first Central Asia Judicial Dialogue, to discuss how to protect freedom of expression while combating violent extremism...

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number of ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. • The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. • Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle near Novotoshkivske.* • The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines near Bakhmut, Kostiantynivka and Lysychansk. • The Mission continued to observe long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line near Stanytsia Luhanska. • The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure and damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. • Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas.*

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. It observed demining activities near government-controlled Shyrokyi and Krasna Talivka. The SMM continued to observe hardship faced by civilians at checkpoints along the contact line. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure as well as damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a public gathering related to gender issues.Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas.

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure as well as damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at two weapons storage sites in non-government-controlled-areas of Donetsk region, as well as Novoamvrosiivske and Makiivka and close to Voznesenivka, a non-government-controlled area of Luhansk region near the border with the Russian Federation.*

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 18 December 2018 – The OSCE Mission in Kosovo published today a report which assesses the access to pre-university education for non-majority communities in Kosovo. The report, Communities’ Access to Pre-University Education in Kosovo, covers the period from 2014 to 2017 and looks into the provision of education in the majority and community languages...

Between the evenings of 14 and 15 December, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 15 and 16 December, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM followed up on reports of a woman who had sustained injuries due to gunfire in Slovianoserbsk and two men injured in a grenade explosion in Krasnohorivka.

KYIV, 17 December 2018 – Leaders from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights and humanitarian committee today called for all sides of the conflict in eastern Ukraine to lay down their weapons as a critical step in finding a lasting solution to the crisis in and around Ukraine.