News and press releases

A two-day training seminar on the prohibition of discrimination against persons with disabilities was organized for some 25 employees of the state administration by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro in co-operation with the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights on 5 and 6 October 2017 in Bečići...

VIENNA, 5 October 2017 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today welcomed the release of Solidzhon Abdurakhmanov, a former correspondent with Uznews.net and the UK-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting...

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 and Zolote and observed calm situations. Its access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Siedove.* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Ternove. It facilitated and monitored the inspection of essential infrastructure in Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM visited one border area not under government control...

ANDORRA LA VELLA, 5 October 2017 – Cybersecurity, climate change and the importance of education as a guarantee of stability were the focus of debate among some 180 parliamentarians taking part in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 2017 Autumn Meeting in Andorra this week.

A two-day seminar on strengthening rule of law-compliant criminal justice responses to terrorism, which brought together over 30 practitioners from the judiciary, law enforcement agencies and prison management, concluded on 5 October 2017 in Astana.

MINSK, 5 October 2017 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups in Minsk on 4 October 2017:

The SMM recorded overall fewer ceasefire violations, however, more explosions, in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM assessed damage to facilities at an entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote, and Petrivske, and recorded a calm situation in all three. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* In violation of the withdrawal lines, an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted a probable mortar in Mykolaivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of the thermal power plant in Shchastia, water pipelines in Zolote, a pumping station near Artema, and power lines near Novozvanivka. The Mission visited four border areas not under government control. The SMM monitored a peaceful gathering in Sievierodonetsk. It followed up on reports of a fire at a branch of Sberbank in Lviv.