News and press releases

A celebration to mark the end of a ten-day summer school for youth was held on 19 July 2015 in Molovata Noua, a town by the Dniester/Nistru River. Local officials and inhabitants from both banks of the river attended the event, as did the 80 participants of the summer school...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of Measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements.” Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The SMM observed that the number of ceasefire violations at and around Donetsk airport decreased. In Shyrokyne no ceasefire violations were observed. The repair at the water pipeline north-west of Horlivka was suspended due to ceasefire violations. The SMM in Kyiv as well as on the crash site in Hrabove observed a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the downing of Malaysian Airline Flight MH17.

Police and prosecutors from Ukraine discussed international standards on freedom of religion or belief and responses to hate crime at two seminars organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Vinnitsa on 13 and 14 July and in Odessa on 16 and 17 July 2015.

VIENNA, 16 July 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today expressed concern regarding reports that Armenia’s Special Investigative Service launched a criminal case against Kristine Khanumian, editor of Ilur.am news portal, on charges of deliberate failure to comply with a court order...

VIENNA, 16 July 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today criticized an attack on a journalist in Skopje and a threatening public statement against journalists by the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party...

In her statement to the Permanent Council on 16 July, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Astrid Thors provided information on her institution’s activities since November 2014 highlighting the political developments in Skopje and the situation on the Crimean peninsula...

KYZYLORDA, Kazakhstan, 16 July 2015 – Sustainable agricultural development and green growth principles were in the focus of an OSCE-supported seminar, which was held today in Kyzylorda, southern Kazakhstan, to assist the country in its transition to green economy.