News and press releases

The Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) presented the Protected Documents Handbook developed with the support of the OSCE Mission to BiH, at an event in Sarajevo on 28 January 2019.

The role of women in the political and decision-making processes and the techniques to improve professional skills to assume leadership positions was the focus of a training seminar which concluded on 28 January 2019 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Damage to a house in Chermalyk and small-arms damage to a hospital in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations and observed newly dug trenches inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable maintenance works to essential civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the Mission’s access in all three disengagement areas continued.

VIENNA, 26 January 2019- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today welcomed the thorough police action which has led to the arrest of the alleged instigator of the arson attack against journalist Milan Jovanović in Serbia.

DAVOS, Switzerland, 25 January 2019 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák and OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger today welcomed the ratification of the Prespa Agreement by the Hellenic Parliament and commended the governments in Athens and Skopje for their commitment to pursuing peace and stability in the region.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area and near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The Mission continued to observe long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line at the entry-exit checkpoint in Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable maintenance works to essential civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at a border crossing point near non-government-controlled Izvaryne. In Kyiv, the SMM followed the sentencing hearing of the former President of Ukraine.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area and near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The Mission continued to observe long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line at the entry-exit checkpoint in Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable maintenance works to essential civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at a border crossing point near non-government-controlled Izvaryne. In Kyiv, the SMM followed the sentencing hearing of the former President of Ukraine.