News and press releases

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKIY, Russian Federation, 27 July 2016- The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall cross-border traffic increased at both BCPs...

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator on 15 July 2016 launched the first distance course in Ukraine on the application of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)...

Ways to increase the sustainability of social businesses by using social media marketing tools were discussed at a training session organized in Kyiv on 26 July 2016 by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine...

CHISINAU / TIRASPOL, 26 July 2016 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Moldova today had talks with high-level Moldovan officials as well as with representatives from the Transdniestrian leadership. Steinmeier also visited the offices of the OSCE Mission in Moldova on both sides of the Dniester/Nistru River, in Chisinau and Tiraspol, and acknowledged their valuable work towards the Transdniestrian conflict settlement process...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared to the previous day. The largest concentration of ceasefire violations was again recorded in the Yasynuvata-Avdiivka area. The SMM followed up on reports of casualties and conducted crater analysis in Novooleksandrivka, Kominternove, Novozvanivka and Avdiivka. The SMM observed a weapons system in violation of the respective withdrawal line, as well as armoured combat vehicles and an unmanned flying vehicle in the security zone. In Soledar, a representative from the JCCC did not facilitate the provision of security assurances for repair work on essential infrastructure. The SMM continued to note the presence of unexploded ordnance. It monitored two border areas not controlled by the Government. The Mission’s freedom of movement was restricted on five occasions, including two episodes during which shots were fired at an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle, all in areas outside government control...

At 23:51 on 25 July 2016, while flying over government-controlled Avdiivka, approximately 600m north-west of the contact line and 12.5km north of Donetsk, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) experienced a loss of signals with the Ground Control Station and the SMM lost all communication with the UAV...

OSH, Kyrgyzstan, 26 July 2016 – Some 25 athletes and sport trainers today discussed gender-based violence at an OSCE-supported roundtable discussion attended by a world amateur boxing champion (1986) and former member of parliament, Orzubek Nazarov...