News and press releases

Summary The SMM recorded 36 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and two in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded three ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and one in Luhansk region. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska,

VIENNA, 8 October 2020 – The recent reduction in violence, following the Trilateral Contact Group’s adoption of additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire on 22 July, shows once again that with political will, concrete results can be achieved on the ground, said Yaşar Halit Çevik, Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, in his address to the OSCE Permanent Council today in Vienna...

Maryse Daviet, Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, met with the newly appointed Speaker of the Parliament, Aleksa Bečić, on 7 October 2020 in Podgorica...

Summary The SMM recorded three ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and one in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded nine ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and five in Luhansk region. A woman and a boy were injured by the explosion of a device near

The parliamentary elections in Serbia were administered efficiently despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but dominance of the ruling party, including in the media, was a cause for concern. These are some of the main conclusions from the 21 June 2020 elections, as detailed in the final report published by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

On 6 October 2020, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan supported the organization of an online seminar on the role of the Parliament in enhancing the legal framework on the prevention of torture within the National Preventive Mechanism. This activity is part of the broader framework of the National Strategy for Human Rights, adopted this year by Uzbekistan...

As of today, 7 October 2020, a chatbot called “CEC about elections”, is available for election commissioners on the ground, candidates and ordinary voters who would like immediate information on various aspects of the upcoming local elections in Ukraine. The chatbot is an artificial intelligence-based application, developed with the support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator for the country’s Central Election Commission.