News and press releases

WARSAW, 11 January 2018 – Today, on the 16th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), reiterated her Office’s calls for the facility’s prompt closure...

VIENNA, 11 January 2018 – Addressing the crisis in and around Ukraine, the protracted conflicts, the security of the Mediterranean region, and the challenges of migration, including by combating human trafficking and all forms of xenophobia and discrimination, are among Italy’s OSCE Chairmanship priorities, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Italy’s Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano told the Permanent Council in Vienna today...

WARSAW, 10 January 2018- Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today voiced serious concerns regarding the arrest and detention of Oyub Titiev, Director of the Memorial Human Rights Centre in Chechnya, in the North Caucasus republic of the Russian Federation, yesterday...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number of ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission observed shrapnel damage to a building in Pikuzy. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and observed infantry fighting vehicles inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere.* The Mission observed a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines near Oleksandropillia. An SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted fallen power lines and an extended trench in Zaitseve. The Mission visited two border areas not under government control. It monitored the administrative boundary line between Kherson region and Crimea and noted a calm situation...

The OM is currently operating with 22 permanent international staff members, including the Chief Observer (CO). The Mission is supported administratively by a Vienna-based staff member...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region between the evenings of 5 and 6 January compared with the previous reporting period and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. Between the evenings of 6 and 7 January, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both regions compared with the previous 24 hours. In the following 24 hours, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and more in Luhansk region. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and observed a calm situation in each one; its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere.* The SMM noted that a weapons permanent storage site in government-controlled areas had been abandoned. The SMM visited four border areas not under government control. In Kyiv, the SMM followed up on media reports that the building of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture had been marked with red paint...

KYIV, 8 January 2018- The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Martin Sajdik, issued today the following statement:...