News and press releases

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe organized a series of awareness-raising discussions on requirements of UN Security Resolution 1540 and its implementation by Tajikistan.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM heard explosions (assessed as outgoing mortar rounds) and small-arms fire about 100m from its position in a residential area of non-government-controlled Dokuchaievsk. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; its access remained restricted in all three areas. It was again restricted in areas of Donetsk region outside government control near Zaichenko and Bezimenne, as well as in Voznesenivka, an area of Luhansk region close to the border with the Russian Federation. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical civilian infrastructure near Artema, Novotoshkivske, Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, as well as in Zalizne and Horlivka. In Odessa, the SMM followed up on reports of an attack against journalists...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in co-operation with the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, organized a co-ordination meeting with municipal gender focal points on 11 July in Podgorica. The participants evaluated accomplishments and activities carried out by the municipalities in the last period and discussed and co-ordinated future activities.

UDINE, Italy, 16 July 2018 – Where states focus on efforts to integrate majority and minority communities on their own territories, societies become more resilient and national minorities are less likely to be at the centre of inter-State issues, said participants at the conclusion of today’s conference in Udine, Italy, marking the 10th anniversary of the OSCE High Commissioner’s Bolzano/Bozen Recommendations on National Minorities in Inter-State Relations.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine is aware of the reporting of the ARD programme «Fakt» on Tuesday, 17 July. The Mission is concerned about any alleged breach of its security and is determined to examine all the allegations thoroughly in accordance with established procedures...

VIENNA, 16 July 2018 – The effectiveness of current drug control policies and strategic and innovative approaches to reducing the supply and demand of illicit drugs are the focus of the two-day OSCE-wide anti-drugs conference that opened in Vienna today. The conference brings together some 130 representatives of OSCE participating States and OSCE Partners for Co-operation...

The first Summer School on Political Parties and Democracy, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), took place in Warsaw from 9 to 15 July 2018. The Summer School brought together MA and PhD