News and press releases

BELGRADE, 12 June 2018 – Improvements in the accommodation of migrants and refugees in Serbia have been welcomed by a delegation led by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Nahima Lanjri (MP, Belgium), with parliamentarians noting that other OSCE countries can learn from these positive developments. They pointed out however that Serbia’s capacity needs to be expanded and adapted to fully meet the needs of unaccompanied minors...

An exhibition of images and biographies of distinguished women of Georgia – painters, artists, writers and public figures – who redefined women’s roles in the 19th and 20th-century Georgian society opened at the headquarters of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region between the evenings of 8 and 9 June, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 9 and 10 June, the SMM 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 civilian casualties in Vasylivka and Horlivka. The Mission continued to follow up on damage from shelling to civilian properties in Sakhanka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three areas and was also restricted at a heavy weapons holding area in a non-government-controlled part of Donetsk region, in Sakhanka and in Siedove near the border with the Russian Federation. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas, including a surface-to-air missile system spotted by an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle which recorded a missile contrail and the launching of a second missile in the direction of the UAV near Ukrainske. The Mission continued to monitor the security situation around the Donetsk Filtration Station and facilitated repairs to an electricity line, the access of Voda Donbassa employees to and from the station and the resumption of operations of the Donetsk Filtration Station...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. In Sakhanka, the SMM followed up on reports of a civilian casualty and observed fresh damage to civilian infrastructure. It continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside and near the Zolote disengagement area and near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and was also restricted at a checkpoint in Maiorsk and in Naberezhne. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas. The Mission continued to monitor the security situation around the Donetsk Filtration Station. It also continued to monitor and facilitate repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema. The SMM followed up on reports of an incident at a Roma community camp in Kyiv.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of a boy injured while handling unexploded ordnance and civilians injured in Holubivske; it observed damage to civilian infrastructure in Dokuchaievsk and Pivdenne. In Pivdenne, the SMM observed the presence of Ukrainian Armed Forces in residential areas and heard about the lack of basic services in the area. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and was also restricted in Voznesenivka near the border with the Russian Federation and in Pivdenne, where the SMM heard warning shots nearby. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Holmivskyi and Sofiivka. The Mission continued to monitor the security situation around the Donetsk Filtration Station and facilitated the departure of workers from the station. It continued to monitor and facilitate repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema. The SMM visited two railyards in areas not under government control.

VIENNA, 8 June 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today sent a letter to the United States authorities to express concern about the seizure of a journalist’s records as part of an ongoing investigation into the leaking of classified information and to enquire whether the seizure respected national and international standards on the protection of journalistic sources...

VIENNA, 8 June 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today expressed his concern about the seizure of a Dutch journalist’s records as part of an ongoing investigation into the leaking of classified information...