News and press releases

AK-BULAK, Kazakhstan, 17 March 2017 – An OSCE-supported annual two-day roundtable discussion on major areas of criminal justice modernization began today at Ak-Bulak near Almaty, Kazakhstan...

ANKARA, 17 March 2017 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened a limited referendum observation mission (LROM) for the 16 April constitutional referendum in Turkey. The mission’s deployment follows an invitation from the Turkish authorities...

The SMM recorded a similar overall number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions as in the previous reporting period, but twice as many explosions in Luhansk region than in the previous period, most in areas west of Kadiivka. The Mission followed up on civilian casualties in Avdiivka, Bakhmut and Horlivka, and observed damage to civilian property in Lobacheve, Stanytsia Luhanska bridge and Pavlopil. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access remained restricted.* The SMM camera recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska area. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines and missing from storage sites. It visited two border areas currently not under government control. The Mission continued to monitor the blockade of routes crossing the contact line and monitored demonstrations in support of the blockade. It monitored continuation of a protest outside a bank office in Kyiv and followed up on a similar protest in Dnipro.

PODGORCA, 15 March 2017 – The head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Ambassador Maryse Daviet, and the programme manager of the mission’s rule of law and human rights programme, Robert Kucharski, met with the president of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro, Dragoljub Draskovic, on 15 March in Podgorica...

MINSK, 16 March 2017 – In meetings today with the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei, and yesterday with Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly Vladimir Andreichenko, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) has welcomed the active engagement of Belarus in the OSCE PA, and expressed gratitude for the intensive efforts underway in Minsk in preparation for the Assembly’s 26th Annual Session in July...

VIENNA, 16 March 2017 – The OSCE Permanent Council’s decision today to renew the mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) by one year will help ensure that the mission continues to play its key role in stabilizing the situation in eastern Ukraine and supporting the implementation of the Minsk agreements, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz as well as OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said...

VIENNA, 16 March 2017 – The OSCE Permanent Council, in a consensus decision taken at its meeting in Vienna today, agreed to renew the mandate of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine by one year until 31 March 2018...