News and press releases

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons decreased at both BCPs compared to the previous week.

BELGRADE, 4 December 2018 – Aleksandar Alimpić, Governor of the Sremska Mitrovica Correctional Institution; Mileva Malesić, Director of TV Forum from Prijepolje, Dejana Milijić Subić, Deputy Director of the Institute for the Improvement of Education; and Dragomir Milojević, President of the Supreme Court of Cassation will be presented with the 2018 OSCE Mission to Serbia’s Person of the Year Award at a ceremony today in Belgrade.

NEW YORK, 3 December 2018 – Strengthening the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s co-operation with the United Nations was the focus of meetings today in New York. Chair of the OSCE PA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism (CCT) Makis Voridis (Greece) was visiting UN headquarters to discuss the PA’s counter-terrorism activities and build synergy on counter-terrorism.

VIENNA, 3 December 2018- Today, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir expressed concern over the decision by the Canadian Supreme Court to uphold a lower court ruling obliging VICE reporter Ben Makuch to hand over his private communications with a source.

Between the evenings of 30 November and 1 December, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 1 and 2 December, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM observed fresh damage in a residential area of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM observed military presence inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM again observed multiple launch rocket systems in violation of the withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas. It was also restricted near Zaichenko, Sosnivske and Novoazovsk, as well as near Voznesenivka, an area close to the border with the Russian Federation...

The OSCE Mission to Moldova accompanied and supported a Moldovan delegation to the plenary meeting of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) held under the Alliance’s Italian Chairmanship in Ferrara, Italy, from 27 to 29 November 2018. The event brought together more than 200 experts and governmental representatives from around the world to discuss ways to promote Holocaust education, remembrance and research...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 3 December 2018 – Some 120 university lecturers, school managers, teachers, trainers and experts from all the Central Asian states, Mongolia and the wider region gathered in Almaty, Kazakhstan, today for the opening of the five-day Regional School on Multilingual and Multicultural Education for Integration and Sustainable Development. The annual event is organized by the office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), in co-operation with the ORLEU National Centre for Professional Development...