News and press releases

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of a civilian casualty from Dokuchaievsk. The SMM observed damage to a powerline in Avdiivka resulting in a lack of electricity in central Avdiivka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske and recorded ceasefire violations near all three. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including near Debaltseve and Kozatske.* The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Miusynsk. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure near Artema and Zalizne. The SMM visited four border areas outside of government control...

The development of local-level strategy documents for the handling of environmental matters – so-called Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAPs) – was the focus of a two-day workshop organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro in Podgorica on 7 and 8 December. LEAPs have the objective of enabling municipal authorities to handle environmental matters for which they are responsible in a more effective, sustainable and transparent manner.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Lamberto Zannier visited Ukraine from 11 to 13 December 2017 to discuss issues related to national minorities and discuss opportunities for the HCNM and the government to work together on promoting diversity in different policy areas. In Kyiv,

A fourth regional working meeting for the joint border police patrol border guards of Albania and Montenegro, organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro in co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania, the Montenegrin Interior Ministry’s Border Police and the Border and Migration Police of the Republic of Albania, took place on 11 December 2017 in Kolašin, Montenegro.

A study visit for high level Tajik state officials to Belgrade was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Serbia from 6 to 10 December 2017. A group of ten representatives from various state institutions such as the national parliament, the Presidential Office, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Committee on Women and Family Affairs and several ministries took part in the visit.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized a conference, on 11 and 12 December 2017 in Podgorica, to mark ten years of co-operation between the Montenegrin Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, municipalities and the Mission in developing programmes to support gender equality in municipalities across the country, as formalized through a series of memoranda of understandings...

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKIY, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons increased at both BCPs compared to the previous week...