News and press releases

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe conducted a series of training courses from 28 June to 19 July 2019 on using social media to promote the work of Public Councils on Police Reform in Tajikistan. The courses were organized in Dushanbe, Gharm, Kulob and Khujand and brought together 100 participants, including members of the Republican, Regional and District Public Councils on Police Reform, as well as representatives of the country’s Interior Ministry...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. A man was injured by gunfire in Yasynuvata. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in training areas near non-government-controlled Miusynsk and Ternove. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM continued to observe the operation of a shuttle bus service in government-controlled areas north of the bridge. Trains were spotted moving east and west in non-government-controlled areas near the border with the Russian Federation. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs to water pipelines near Holubivka and Maiorsk, as well as to powerlines near Spartak. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at checkpoints in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region near Zaichenko and Shevchenko...

Following Slovakia’s presidential election on 16 and 30 March 2019, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has published its  final report summing up the election observation. The election was competitive, pluralistic and respected fundamental freedoms. It was

VIENNA, 20 July 2019 – On the third anniversary of the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet in Ukraine, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today reiterated his call on the Ukrainian authorities to step up their efforts in ending impunity for attacks on and murders of journalists...

VIENNA, 19 July 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, welcomed today the court decision in Turkey handing down prison sentences to seven people over the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink...

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • The SMM followed up on reports of a man injured by a mine explosion in Pryvitne. • It saw damage to a residential house in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. • Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM continued to observe demining activities by the State Emergency Services of Ukraine and the operation of a shuttle bus service. • The Mission saw weapons in violations of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line in Luhansk region. • The Mission saw long queues at checkpoints of the armed formations along the contact line. • The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs of critical civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at checkpoints in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region near Zaichenko and Novolaspa.*

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe trained some 320 representatives of local governments, teachers, parents from migrant families and people whose relatives have travelled to conflict zones as foreign terrorist fighters as part of a whole-of-society approach to tackling violent extremism and terrorist radicalization among youth in Tajikistan. The training courses were conducted in 12 districts of the Sughd and Khatlon regions from 24 June to 18 July 2019...