News and press releases

Fifty sets of radio equipment (HF/VHF radios) were handed to the Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe on 19 December 2017.

The final report on Slovenia’s 22 October presidential election issued by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 20 December 2017 recommends strengthening campaign finance regulations and increasing collaboration between the election administration, other relevant institutions and civil society to make all polling stations accessible for persons with disabilities.

An OSCE-supported national seminar on identification and profiling techniques for officers of Kazakhstan’s Border Service and Migration Police concluded in Almaty on 13 December 2017...

At around 19:15 on 18 December, while at its forward patrol base on the northern edge of government-controlled Popasna (69km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard five undetermined explosions 500-600m north-east, followed by three explosions assessed as outgoing rounds of undetermined weapons within 1.5km south-west. SMM staff (consisting of five monitoring officers, a paramedic and a language assistant) at the forward patrol base immediately gathered near the base’s basement shelter and remained there the entire evening. At around 19:50, the SMM, via telephone, informed Ukrainian Armed Forces and Russian Federation Armed Forces officers of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) of the shelling; the latter told the Mission to contact the armed formations directly...

Over 200 representatives of the Ukrainian government, civil society and the international donor community gathered to discuss ways to stimulate partnership and co-operation between the state and civil society during a two-day conference on 18 and 19 December in Kyiv.

Practical ways to ensure a transparent and participatory legislative process were the focus of a workshop held by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Parliament of Georgia and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), in co-operation with the EU and the Institute

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Yurivka and Khoroshe.* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Bakhmut. In Donetsk region the SMM confirmed that Russian Federation Armed Forces officers of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) had withdrawn from their duties in five JCCC offices. The SMM was positioned on both sides of the Maiorsk entry-exit checkpoint to monitor their crossing of the contact line, but no crossing took place. The SMM observed a calm situation at the protest camp near the Parliament building in Kyiv...