News and press releases

The SMM recorded similar numbers of ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission observed damage to civilian properties caused by shelling in Zolote-5. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded a ceasefire violation inside the Zolote disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as at a checkpoint near Kreminets.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in Kostiantynivka, Bakhmut, Vodiane, Bohoiavlenka and Popasna. The Mission saw anti-tank mines near Novotoshkivske and Zholobok for the first time and, again, in a non-government-controlled area south of the bridge near Shchastia. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to power lines near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka, and to facilitate access to the Donetsk Filtration Station for Voda Donbassa employees. It also facilitated damage assessments carried out by Vodafone employees in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region. The SMM visited two border areas not under government control. The Mission monitored two gatherings in Kyiv and followed up on reports of damage to two bank office branches in Lviv. The SMM continued to monitor the situation at a church in Ptycha, Rivne region, following reports of an incident on 2 April...

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) organized a study visit for over 70 secondary school students and teachers from Mostar that concluded on 27 April 2018 in Sarajevo. The students visited the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, Central Election Commission and Sarajevo City Hall.

The first in a series of four training seminars on human rights protection mechanisms for representatives of local administrations, law-enforcement bodies and civil society concluded on 27 April 2018 in the village of Kazakhstan, in the South Kazakhstan region.

VIENNA, 27 April 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today welcomed a number of positive steps for media freedom in Kyrgyzstan.

More than 100 public servants and civil society representatives engaged in anti-trafficking activities on both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River, strengthened their capacities to protect and assist human trafficking victims at workshops conducted by the OSCE Mission to Moldova between 11 and 27 April 2018. The workshops, held in Chisinau, were organized in close co-operation with the Permanent Secretariat of the National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings.

Representatives of the State Commission on Emergency Situations, military and law-enforcement bodies, the State Seismology Service under the Academy of Science, and relevant ministries discussed the protection of energy infrastructure from natural hazards at an OSCE-organized seminar held in Ashgabat on 26 and 27 April 2018.

The second OSCE-supported international forum on the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture (NPM) concluded on 27 April 2018 in Astana...