News and press releases

KYIV, 27 December 2018 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and to the Trilateral Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), Ertugrul Apakan, welcomed today the sides’ recommitment to the ceasefire on the occasion of the New Year/Christmas festivities...

Following the publication, on 24 December 2018, of the interview conducted by the German newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger...

Summary • Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 21 and 22 December, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. • Between the evenings of 22 and 23 December, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. • It observed damage caused by gunfire to civilian properties in Donetsk city’s Petrovskyi district. • The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. • The Mission saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. • It continued to observe long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line near Marinka. • The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. • Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted near Novolaspa and Izvaryne, an area of Luhansk region close to the border with the Russian Federation.*

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • The SMM followed up on reports of a man injured due to gunfire in Chermalyk. • The Mission observed damage to a house caused by shelling in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and by small-arms fire to a post office in Holubivske. • The SMM recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. • The Mission saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • The SMM continued to observe long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line near Stanytsia Luhanska. • The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure and damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. • It monitored public gatherings in Odessa and Lviv.

VIENNA, 22 December 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today expressed serious concern following a court decision in Azerbaijan ordering a well-known investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova to pay a high fine for an alleged tax debt...

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. • The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • The Mission continued to observe long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line near Stanytsia Luhanska. • The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure and damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. • The Mission observed convoys of trucks marked “Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation” in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted near Izvaryne, an area of Luhansk region close to the border with the Russian Federation.*

VIENNA, 21 December 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, organized on 19 December in Bishkek the first Central Asia Judicial Dialogue, to discuss how to protect freedom of expression while combating violent extremism...