News and press releases

WARSAW, 16 September 2019 – Four decades after the Helsinki Final Act, the struggle to respect and promote human rights and human security remains a challenge in the OSCE area, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli said at the opening of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw today. Noting that the past decade has represented a downward trend, Tsereteli stressed that the human dimension requires increased dedication and focus by all...

Under-representation of people with disabilities in political and public life and examples of positive practice contributing to more inclusive parliaments, political parties and democratic institutions were discussed at a side event organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human

VIENNA, 13 September 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his relief after the sentences of seven former Cumhuriyet journalists were reversed in Turkey yesterday.

BRATISLAVA, 9 September 2019 – Some 160 representatives, policy makers and national security advisers from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation, as well as experts and practitioners from international and regional organizations and academia, attended today in Bratislava the fourth thematic conference of the 2019 Slovak OSCE Chair, which focused on Security Sector Governance and Reform (SSG/R). In particular, the conference sought to unpack the role of SSG/R in preventing conflict, sustaining peace and promoting comprehensive security for all.

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • Small-arms fire was assessed as directed at an SMM mini unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) near non-government-controlled Tavrycheske. • The SMM saw that the former forward positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and of the armed formations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area continued to be dismantled. • The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the disengagement area Zolote and observed military hardware inside the Petrivske disengagement area. • The SMM saw a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines in government-controlled Mariupol.

VIENNA, 31 August 2019 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, strongly condemned today the shooting of the journalist, Levent Uysal, in Balıkesir, Turkey.

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • The SMM saw that the former forward positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and of the armed formations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area continued to be dismantled. • The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside and near the disengagement area near Zolote. • The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. • It monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs to and the operation of essential civilian infrastructure. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at a checkpoint in non-government-controlled Verkhnoshyrokivske.*