News and press releases

The sixth meeting of the Working Group on environmental protection under the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Chu-Talas Water Commission took place on 16 November 2018 in Bishkek. The meeting was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek in close co-operation with the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Chu-Talas Water Commission...

With the aim to strengthen Parliament’s administrative capacities, in particular in the area of research, documentation and outreach, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized a working visit to the Italian Senate for six officials of the Parliament of Montenegro on 12-13 November 2018...

A two-day seminar on delimitation and demarcation practices in the OSCE area concluded on 16 November 2018 in Athens. The event was jointly organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece.

Representatives of the municipal administration, local institutions, civil society, education sector, youth, women as well as religious and local community leaders gathered at an OSCE roundtable in Tetovo on 19 November 2018 to discuss the implementation of the National Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Strategy and Action Plan at the local level...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed a recent impact on a road in a residential area of Debaltseve. The SMM observed military-type presence and anti-tank mines in the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, as well as at a military compound near Starohnativka and near Leonove, close to the border with the Russian Federation.* 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 houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. The Mission continued to monitor the situation of civilians living near the contact line in the Vilnyi neighbourhood of Zolote-4/Rodina. In Odessa, the SMM monitored a protest against illegal construction.

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed military-type presence in the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Verkhnoshyrokivske and again near Novoazovsk, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. The SMM followed up on reports of vandalism to crosses commemorating Polish prisoners in Kolomiya during World War I. In Kyiv, the Mission followed up on an attack on St. Andrew’s Church and a ceremony in honour of political prisoners. The SMM observed the first meeting of the temporary parliamentary commission charged with investigating the death of Kateryna Handziuk. In Kherson, the SMM observed a court hearing related to the detained Mekhanik Pogodin tanker.

The key steps in joining a technologically advanced ePassport verification system- the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD) – were explored at a regional workshop organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in Budva, Montenegro on 15 and 16 November 2018...