News and press releases

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, including 63 explosions compared with 126 in the previous reporting period. Most of the recorded ceasefire violations occurred in the area of Yasynuvata-Avdiivka. The Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region (29 explosions compared with six). The SMM continued to observe the presence of weapons in violation of the respective withdrawal lines, including four multiple-launch rocket systems (Grad) near Ivanivka, and followed up on the presence of mines near populated areas. The SMM observed damages caused to houses and infrastructure in Nyzhnoteple. The Mission continued to facilitate and monitor repair works to essential infrastructure in Luhansk region. The SMM encountered restrictions to its freedom of movement including in disengagement areas near Petrivske and Zolote, and noted a calm situation in the wider Petrivske area...

SARAJEVO, 23 September 2016 – A two-day regional disaster risk reduction meeting, organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and hosted by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), concluded today in Sarajevo...

NEW YORK, 23 September 2016 –“We are committed to the OSCE’s inclusive, civilian and comprehensive approach covering the entire conflict cycle: from early warning and prevention through crisis management to post-conflict peacebuilding,” OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed at a high-level event on “The Force of Civilian Crisis Management – Strengthening the Capacities of the OSCE as a Chapter VIII Organization” that took place on the margins of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 22 September 2016...

DUSHANBE, 23 September 2016 – An OSCE-organized two-day training course on counteracting trafficking in human beings for facilitators from Women’s Resource Centres (WRCs) concluded today in Dushanbe...

An OSCE-supported training seminar for some 20 young diplomats from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the principles of water governance and challenges and solutions related to climate change concluded on 23 September 2016 in Almaty, Kazakhstan...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 23 September 2016 – The outgoing Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Jean-Claude Schlumberger, hosted today the chairpersons of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, Shkëlqim Hysenaj, and of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia registered in Kosovo, Budimir Ničić, to donate 50 sets of vests and jackets bearing the word ‘PRESS’...

COPENHAGEN, 23 September 2016 – In one week, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 15th Autumn Meeting will open in Skopje with addresses by host officials including Speaker of Parliament Trajko Veljanoski and Vice-President Renata Deskoska. The opening session will also feature remarks by OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) and a special address by Mevlut Cavusoglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, followed by a debate...