News and press releases

The Programme Office in Bishkek supported a one-month training course aimed at improving the skills of the staff of Kyrgyzstan’s State Commission on Religious Affairs (SCRA) in promoting gender equality. The training sessions for SCRA staff course took place from 8 November to 6 December 2017 in Bishkek...

International co-operation in the management of temporarily seized assets was the focus of a two-day training course organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro for the Property Directorate Department for Seized and Confiscated Assets in Podgorica on 14 and 15 December 2017...

STOCKHOLM, 14 December 2017 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir, during his visit to Stockholm, discussed media freedom challenges in Sweden and the OSCE region...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, but more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM heard artillery fire and saw muzzle flashes less than 500m from the SMM’s forward patrol base in government-controlled Popasna (see SMM Spot Report 13 December 2017). The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations in the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere. The SMM assessed impact sites in residential areas of Kadiivka and Pervomaisk. It followed up on reports of a casualty in Luhansk city. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure in Zalizne, Betmanove and Artema. The SMM visited two areas of the border outside of government control...

OSCE Mission to Moldova organised a study visit to Georgia for a group of six young journalists from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River on 5-8 December 2017. During the two-day trip they learned about how investigative reporting projects work in practice, as well as about the local media environment and legal framework.

The annual OSCE-supported International Youth Legal Forum, which is held in recognition of the Human Rights Day and was dedicated to mechanisms of human rights protection this year, concluded on 14 December 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

BISHKEK, 14 December 2017- An agreement in which Switzerland commits to allocate CHF 430,000 (approximately EUR 370,000) in support of the OSCE Academy in Bishkek over the next three years was signed by the Swiss Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Véronique Hulmann and the Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, Pierre von Arx on 14 December 2017 in Bishkek. The grant will be used to strengthen the Academy’s research capacities.