News and press releases

KYIV, 17 December 2018 – Leaders from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights and humanitarian committee today called for all sides of the conflict in eastern Ukraine to lay down their weapons as a critical step in finding a lasting solution to the crisis in and around Ukraine.

A national training course on behavioural analysis and identification of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and criminals at airports for 24 border and customs officers from Montenegro’s Podgorica and Tivat airports, the Civil Aviation Agency and the Intelligence Agency of Montenegro was held from 11 to 14 December 2018 in Podgorica...

How to prevent crime and violence committed by young people by encouraging their engagement in developing life skills, sports and education was explored at a workshop for around 30 high-level policymakers from South-East Europe organized in Belgrade on 17 December 2018 by the Strategic Police Matters Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in co-operation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the OSCE Mission to Serbia...

An online, digital platform for monitoring the environment in conflict-affected areas of eastern Ukraine, and the first baseline assessment of a water monitoring programme in the Siverskyi Donets river basin were presented at an event in Kyiv on 17 December 2018. Both were delivered with the support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and are designed to be used by the country’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the State Water Agency to track the environmental situation in the region and keep the general public informed...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The SMM recorded over 60 ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission observed weapons in violations of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure as well as 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. The SMM was also restricted at a compound near Donske.* The Mission monitored a public gathering in Kyiv.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The Mission saw fresh damage caused by gunfire to a residential building in Dokuchaievsk. The SMM recorded over 60 ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area and 25 near the area. Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle after it spotted hardware assessed as electronic warfare equipment near non-government-controlled Lozivskyi. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure as well as damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM monitored the transfer of persons convicted before the beginning of the conflict in 2014 from non-government-controlled to government-controlled areas of Donetsk region. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at a checkpoint near Starolaspa...

The Government of Montenegro presented its national platform for suppressing violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (VERLT) in Podgorica on 14 December 2018. It was developed by the Montenegrin Ministry of the Interior and the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.