News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
OSCE/ODIHR publishes database of election recommendations for Western Balkans
Publishing date: 21 December 2018
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has published an online database of election-related recommendations for the Western Balkans.
Port control procedures and security issues discussed at OSCE-organized training course in Turkmenbashi International Seaport on Caspian Sea
Publishing date: 21 December 2018
More than 25 seaport security and law enforcement officials completed a five-day practical training course on port security management and procedures on 21 December 2018. The course, held at the Turkmenbashi International Seaport on the Caspian Sea, was organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat...
Helpline for reporting threats against journalists and media workers promoted by OSCE Mission to Skopje
Publishing date: 21 December 2018
SKOPJE, 21 December 2018 – A helpline for reporting threats, attacks and violence against journalists- 0800-11-011 – presented at the press conference today in Skopje by the the OSCE Mission to Skopje in co-operation with the Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM)...
World Customs Organization accredits Kyrgyzstan’s State Customs Service Training Centre with regional status
Publishing date: 21 December 2018
The Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Kunio Mikuriya, and the First Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Service of the Kyrgyz Republic (SCS), Shamil Berdaliev, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the WCO Secretariat in Brussels on 19 December, thereby accrediting the SCS’s Training Centre as a WCO Regional Training Centre...
Spot Report by OSCE Observer Mission: The eighty-second Russian convoy of 22 vehicles crossed into Ukraine and returned through the Donetsk Border Crossing Point
Publishing date: 20 December 2018
On 20 December at 08:20 (Moscow time), the eighty-second Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 22 vehicles were checked by Russian Federation border guards and customs officers prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All 22 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 20:57 on 20 December.
Moscow Mechanism rapporteur reports to OSCE Permanent Council on alleged human rights violations in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation
Publishing date: 20 December 2018
VIENNA, 20 December 2018 – Wolfgang Benedek, OSCE Moscow Mechanism rapporteur, presented to the OSCE Permanent Council today his report on alleged human rights violations and impunity in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation...
Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 19 December 2018
Publishing date: 20 December 2018
• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number of ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. • The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. • Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle near Novotoshkivske.* • The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines near Bakhmut, Kostiantynivka and Lysychansk. • 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. • Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas.*