News and press releases

A capacity building workshop for Central Asian states entitled “Strengthening National, Sub-Regional and International Capacities to Prepare for and Respond to Deliberate Use of Biological Weapons” in the framework of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) was conducted from 26 to 27 June 2019 in Bishkek. The workshop was organized by UNODA’s Implementation Support Unit of the BWC in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and the Ministry of Economy of Kyrgyzstan...

WARSAW, 26 June 2019 – Eradicating all forms of torture and putting survivors’ rights at the centre of focus must become a priority of countries across the OSCE region, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said on today’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

KYIV, 26 June 2019 – The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, Yaşar Halit Çevik, welcomed the willingness expressed at a recent meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group to disengage from the agreed area at Stanytsia Luhanska, and reiterated the Mission’s full readiness to monitor the disengagement process...

VIENNA 24 June 2019 – The OSCE has the framework, the platform and the tools needed to address today’s complex security challenges. What is needed to make effective use of those tools are political will, seeking new opportunities for dialogue and new ways of communicating and negotiating, all keynote speakers agreed at today’s opening session of the Annual Security Review Conference (ASRC).

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. A girl was injured by shelling in Horlivka. It saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line, including in training areas in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. The SMM saw anti-tank mines near Krasnohorivka and Vodiane, some for the first time. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. Its freedom of movement was also restricted on a road near non-government-controlled Staropetrivske and at a checkpoint of the armed formations near Novoazovsk.

The OSCE Presence in Albania signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the Prosecution Office of Tirana and the Albanian State Police, respectively, on 24 June 2019 in Tirana...

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.