News and press releases

Vienna, 13 October 2017 – Recent threats by senior politicians to Bulgarian TV journalist Viktor Nikolaev are a point of concern for the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir, as he expressed today.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of a man injured when the tractor he was driving struck something explosive near Metalist and of damage to civilian properties in Dokuchaievsk. The SMM continued monitoring all three disengagement areas. It recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and observed demining in the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Kozatske and Kuznetsovo-Mykhailivka.* The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Oleksandropil and Zelene Pole. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure between Klynove and Novozvanivka, in Shchastia, near Artema, and between Zolote and Popasna...

BISHKEK, 12 October 2017 – To mark the International Day of the Girl Child on 11 October, a “Successful Girl” leadership school was launched across three province of Kyrgyzstan by the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek in partnership with the public foundation “Child’s Rights Defenders League”...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission followed up on reports of a boy injured by the explosion of a hand grenade in Dokuchaievsk. The SMM continued monitoring all three disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations in the Petrivske disengagement area and near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Verkhnoshyrokivske.* The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Hranitne. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure in Shchastia, near Artema, and between Zolote and Popasna. The SMM visited two border areas not under government control. The Mission monitored a gathering in Volyn region, as well as the administrative boundary line between Kherson region and Crimea...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM followed up on reports of a civilian casualty from Zaitseve. The SMM continued monitoring all three disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations close to the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas and saw a white signal flare fired from near a checkpoint south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including in Vesela Hora and Horlivka.* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Zaichenko and Bezimenne. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of the thermal power plant in Shchastia and power lines near Toretsk. It visited two border areas not under government control...

NICOSIA, 10 October 2017 – Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, during his visit to Cyprus launched an exchange programme for young journalists from the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in the next phase of his Office’s "The Cyprus Dialogue” project, which was initiated in March this year...

COPENHAGEN, 10 October 2017 – Recognizing the difficulties facing policymakers on issues related to migrants and refugees, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Migration today offered a set of observations and recommendations based on its work over the past year and a half...