News and press releases

Bratislava/Copenhagen/Vienna, 13 May 2019 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovakia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) George Tsereteli and OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella today strongly condemned the use of violence by this weekend‘s protesters in Albania’s capital Tirana, as well as the threats and attempted intimidation directed at the Head of the OSCE’s Presence in Albania and at the Organization in general. They also called on law enforcement officials to show restraint.

This report is for the media and the general public. Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 10 and 11 May, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Between the evenings of 11 and 12 May, the SMM recorded more ceasefire

CHISINAU, 13 May 2019 – The Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Claus Neukirch, today welcomed the decision of the Transdniestrian leadership to retract decree No.18 related to the village of Varnita...

The Netherlands chaired its first meeting of the OSCE Structured Dialogue with representatives of capitals on 6 and 7 May 2019, bringing together political and military representatives from across the OSCE region to Vienna for a combined session of the Informal Working Group (IWG) of the Structured Dialogue in Capital Format and an Expert-Level Workshop. The discussions were chaired by Ambassador Jeroen Boender, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the OSCE...

DUSHANBE, 13 May 2019 – Ambassador Valeriu Chiveri of the Republic of Moldova assumed his duties today as the Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission saw fresh damage from gunfire to a functioning school in non-government-controlled Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission saw the body of a deceased man at the entry-exit checkpoint in Marinka. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical civilian infrastructure as well as to enable demining in Luhansk region. The SMM observed events commemorating Victory Day in Odessa, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Uzhhorod. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. The SMM’s freedom of movement was also restricted in non-government-controlled areas at checkpoints near Verkhnoshyrokivske and Shevchenko, as well as at a checkpoint near Siedove, close to the border with the Russian Federation.

CHISINAU, 11 May 2019 – Concluding his meetings today, the OSCE Special Representative for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process, Franco Frattini, urged the Sides to step up efforts to maintain the positive dynamic in the settlement process for the benefit of people on both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River.