News and press releases

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations but more explosions in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period. It recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM camera at the Donetsk filtration station recorded a round exploding very close to the camera. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Petrivske disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Kreminets.* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in Shymshynivka and Bohoiavlenka. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure in Shchastia, Vesela Hora and Novozvanivka. The Mission visited three border areas outside of the control of the government. The SMM followed up on media reports that a car belonging to the Consul General of the Russian Federation Consulate in Kharkiv had been damaged...

VIENNA, 16 November 2017 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today expressed his concern about a series of measures by the United States of America and the Russian Federation requiring the media entities from other countries to register themselves as “foreign agents”...

A ceremony in Podgorica on 15 November 2017 saw 120 displaced vulnerable families who had been living in a container settlement in the Konik Camp presented with keys to new homes financed by the Regional Housing Programme and supported by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.

WARSAW, 16 November 2017 – To mark the International Day for Tolerance, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today published hate crime data for 2016 on its dedicated website. This year's data, which have been submitted by OSCE participating States, civil society groups and international organizations can, for the first time, be comprehensively searched, filtered and downloaded.

MOSTAR, 16 November 2017 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and eight Herzegovina-based Coalitions against Hate marked the International Day of Tolerance today in Mostar. The event gathered coalition members from Trebinje, Nevesinje, Bileca, Konjic, Stolac, Capljina, Prozor-Rama and Mostar, who marked this day with a series of performances celebrating cultural diversity and tolerance through music, film, art and poetry...

A training seminar on the various aspects of voter registration, organized by Kazakhstan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), concluded on 16 November 2017 in Astana.

MOSCOW, 16 November 2017- The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) met separately on 14 and 16 November with the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov. The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the meetings...