News and press releases

The SMM recorded overall fewer ceasefire violations, however, more explosions, in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM assessed damage to facilities at an entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote, and Petrivske, and recorded a calm situation in all three. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* In violation of the withdrawal lines, an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted a probable mortar in Mykolaivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of the thermal power plant in Shchastia, water pipelines in Zolote, a pumping station near Artema, and power lines near Novozvanivka. The Mission visited four border areas not under government control. The SMM monitored a peaceful gathering in Sievierodonetsk. It followed up on reports of a fire at a branch of Sberbank in Lviv.

TBILISI, 4 October 2017 – Concluding a two-day visit to Tbilisi, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir welcomed the amendments to Georgia’s Constitution, recently adopted by the Parliament, which will grant citizens the right to access and freely use the internet. The amendments also enhance the right to access to information and the independence of the public service broadcaster...

VIENNA, 4 October 2017 –The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today called on German authorities to ensure that the freedom of expression is safeguarded in the implementation of, the Network Enforcement Act (NEA), a federal law on better law enforcement in social networks which entered into force on 1 October...

On 3 October 2017, the 81st Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting was held in Ergneti. Ambassador Guenther Baechler, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, and Erik Hoeeg, Acting Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), co-facilitated the meeting.

ANDORRA LA VELLA, 3 October 2017 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 2017 Autumn Meeting, bringing together some 180 parliamentarians from across the OSCE’s 57 participating States, opened today in Andorra with addresses by the OSCE PA President, and the Speaker of Parliament and Prime Minister of Andorra...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous 24 hours and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The Mission followed up further on reports of civilian casualties in Mariupol and Shchastia. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote, and Petrivske, and recorded a calm situation in all three. Its access remained restricted in the three disengagement areas and in Boikovske. In violation of the withdrawal lines, an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted a tank behind a house in Verkhnoshyrokivske. The SMM visited a heavy weapons permanent storage site; it also observed weapons outside designated storage sites. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of the thermal power plant in Shchastia, water pipelines in Zolote, a pumping station near Artema, water wells near Krasnyi Lyman and the railway station in Verkhnotoretske. The Mission visited two border areas not under government control...

VIENNA, 3 October 2017 – More than 120 representatives of OSCE participating States, Partners for Co-operation and other partnering organizations have gathered for a two-day meeting in Vienna today to review the implementation of OSCE assistance projects under the OSCE Documents on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and Stockpiles of Conventional Ammunition (SCA) and explore possible further actions in this field.