News and press releases

Gender mainstreaming the work of local governments and election campaigns was the focus of an OSCE-supported training seminar for some 45 high-level local government executives and local district legislators from Kazakhstan’s Atyrau Region on 21 June 2017...

A training event held in Vadul-lui-Vodă by the OSCE Mission to Moldova from 16 to 18 June 2017 has equipped some 40 high school students and their teachers with essential debating techniques...

On 20 June an SMM patrol (1) comprising two armoured vehicles and six members was stationary at an observation post at “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata railway station (16km north-east of Donetsk), when it saw two men in military-style attire, one armed with an assault rifle (AK-type) walking in a western direction about 80m away. Another SMM patrol (2) comprising two armoured vehicles and six members was positioned about 150m west of the other patrol and about 100m from the two men. At 11:06, both patrols heard one burst of small-arms fire assessed as coming from the area of the two men...

WARSAW, 20 June 2017- Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today on World Refugee Day reminded OSCE participating States of their commitment to ensuring the dignified treatment and human rights of all men, women and children wanting to cross borders...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations and fewer explosions in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM confirmed the death of a man in Zhovte and observed damage caused by shelling in Pikuzy and Sakhanka. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations in Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and heard an explosion near Zolote. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Khreshchatytske when the SMM attempted to corroborate reports of a civilian casualty in the area.* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to power lines between Almazna and Zolote. The SMM observed a protest by supporters of the Aidar battalion outside the Kyiv City office of the Security Service of Ukraine...

Good practices in lawmaking, including public consultation and a balanced relationship between legislative and executive bodies, were the focus of a roundtable discussion hosted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 19 and 20 June 2017 in Warsaw. The event

Some 80 participants from more than 20 countries, including state officials, civil society representatives, international experts and academics, shared good practices and debated practical steps to improve political finance regulations in Eastern and Central Europe during a regional conference