News and press releases

VIENNA, 8 December 2017 – The OSCE Austrian Chairmanship appealed for greater attention to the plight of civilians in Eastern Ukraine at a side event held on the margins of the 24th OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna today.

VIENNA, 8 December 2017 – In a series of exchanges with foreign ministers, ambassadors, heads of OSCE institutions and other senior officials in Vienna this week, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) welcomed increased co-operation and dialogue on both the multilateral and bilateral levels. He noted the value of the OSCE and emphasized that it should be fully equipped to handle challenges facing the region...

The OSCE’s activities in combating the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) are an important contribution to the global fight against organized crime and terrorism, said speakers at a side event in in Vienna on 8 December 2017, on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council.

The office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) organized the first “Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia School on Multilingual and Multicultural Education for Integration and Sustainable Development”, in co-operation with the ORLEU National Centre for Professional

VIENNA, 7 December 2017 – OSCE Foreign Ministers and other high-level representatives discussed ways to enhance strategic stability in times of increasing political and military unpredictability at a focused discussion on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna. The exchange built on discussions in the framework of the Structured Dialogue on the current and future security challenges in the OSCE area, a multilateral process launched by the Austrian OSCE Chair earlier this year.

VIENNA, 7 December 2017 – It is in the interest of all participating States to use the OSCE as a security forum to counter violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism and to strengthen co-operation so that we can work together, said OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz at a side event held on the margins of the 24th OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna today...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. 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 the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including at a heavy weapons holding area in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region.* The SMM saw shelling damage on a roof of a building in Novooleksandrivka and impact sites in residential areas of Dokuchaievsk. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Volnovakha. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure near Zalizne, Vesela Hora, Artema and Zolote. In Kyiv the SMM followed up on the situation around the protest camp outside the Parliament building...