News and press releases

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed damage caused by shelling to civilian properties in residential areas of Sakhanka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and spotted military hardware, as well as previously seen mines inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including at border crossing points near Dovzhanske, Izvaryne, Sievernyi, and to Siedove (all close to the border with the Russian Federation), as well as to a heavy weapons holding area in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Lozuvatske, Pidlisne and Sievierodonetsk. The Mission continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station; it facilitated maintenance works to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema. In Kharkiv, the SMM saw flowers and candles laid outside the Consulate of the Russian Federation to commemorate the victims of the shopping mall fire in Kemerovo in the Russian Federation...

Some 100 anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing prosecutors and judges from 43 states and organizations came together in Strasbourg, France on 26 and 27 March 2018 for a workshop organized by the Strategic Police Matters Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Council of Europe's MONEYVAL monitoring body...

CHISINAU, 28 March 2018 – Franco Frattini completed his first visit to Moldova today in his capacity as the Special Representative of the Italian OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process. Meeting with high-level Moldovan officials and the leadership in Tiraspol, Frattini discussed ways to advance the settlement process within the parameters of the agreed end state endorsed by all 57 OSCE participating States, including the Republic of Moldova...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including, again, at a border crossing point near Izvaryne (near the border with the Russian Federation), at a checkpoint near Nova Marivka and at compound in Zymohiria.* The SMM observed a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines in Pobeda. The Mission continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station; it facilitated maintenance works to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema. The SMM followed up on reports of a fire at the Polish cultural centre Poska Nuta in Odessa and reports of damage to a building where the regional office of a political party is located in Dnipro.

VIENNA/PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 27 March 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, and the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jan Braathu, expressed deep concern today for the safety of journalists reporting on the police intervention in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North on 26 March.

VIENNA, 28 March 2018 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today wrote to Foreign Minister of Tajikistan Sirodjidin Aslov, calling for the removal of 14 journalists’ names from a “list of people wanted for serious crimes, including connections with terrorists”.

VIENNA, 27 March 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, in a letter to the authorities of Turkmenistan recently presented a commentary on the national law “On Television and Radio Broadcasting”, which was adopted on 5 January...