News and press releases

JAJCE, 19 July 2016 – The recent decision of the Central Bosnian Canton Assembly to divide the secondary school in Jajce, despite court decisions and students’ protests, was the main focus of discussions held today by representatives of the international community in BiH, including the Office of the High Representative, the French Embassy and the USAID Mission Director, who joined the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Ambassador Jonathan Moore, in meetings with Jajce municipal authorities and civil society.

The SMM recorded a slightly higher number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared to 17 July, including more than 200 explosions. In Luhansk region, for the second consecutive day, all of the ceasefire violations observed by the SMM occurred near government-controlled Shchastia during the night, and the number of ceasefire violations recorded was lower compared to the night of 16 July. The SMM conducted crater analysis on both sides of the contact line, in Marinka and Kominternove. The SMM confirmed that an SMM national staff member, who had been temporarily out of reach, was safe. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable the exchange of bodies across the contact line. The SMM followed up on the temporary closure of the government checkpoint at the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, the only authorized route for crossing the contact line in Luhansk region. It monitored border areas not controlled by the Government and encountered restrictions on two occasions. It faced three other freedom-of-movement restrictions, exclusively in areas not controlled by the Government. The SMM observed the arrival of the new Russian Federation Armed Forces personnel to the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) at a border crossing point in Kharkiv region...

The 68th meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti on 19th July 2016, co-facilitated by Kęstutis Jankauskas, the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), and Ambassador Guenther Baechler, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus.

A week-long regional summer school on multilingual and multicultural education was held from 10 July to 16 July 2016 in Cholponata in Kyrgyzstan- the fifth regional summer school organized as part of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities’ (HCNM) Central Asia Education Programme.

KHARKIV, Ukraine, 18 July 2016 – Today is the first working day for eighty-four cyber-police officers, trained by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine on the grounds of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. 20 special agents and 64 inspectors make up one-third of the personnel of the new Cyber Police Department, which was created within the National Police of Ukraine as part of the wider law enforcement reforms in the country...

Over the weekend in Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, compared to 15 July, with violence focused in the Avdiivka/Yasynuvata area and the northern outskirts of Donetsk as well as the Shyrokyne area. In Luhansk region, the Mission also recorded fewer ceasefire violations than on 15 July, with the only violence noted taking place near Shchastia. The SMM conducted crater analysis and followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Donetsk city’s Petrovskyi district. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons and facilitated the recovery of the body of a dead man. It monitored border areas not controlled by the Government and encountered restrictions on two occasions. The Mission’s freedom of movement was restricted on six other occasions, five of which occurred in areas not controlled by the Government...*

The OSCE Mission to Moldova organized a summer school on 15-17 July 2016 for 25 lawyers from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River aimed at enhancing their ability to represent individuals who have been subject to discrimination. The summer school was held at Vadul-lui-Vodă, a town by the river...