News and press releases

VIENNA, 14 December 2017 – The decision by Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) to impose a fine of 1.48 million Polish Złotys (€352,000) on one of the country’s leading private independent broadcasters, TVN SA, for coverage by one of its channels, TVN24, of opposition demonstrations in Warsaw in December 2016 is unjustified and disproportionate, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir said today...

On 13 December at 00:05, while at its forward patrol base on the northern edge of government-controlled Popasna (69km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard ten explosions assessed as outgoing artillery fire 200-500m west to west-north-west, and smelt propellant. SMM staff (consisting of five monitoring officers, a paramedic and a language assistant) at the forward patrol base immediately entered the base’s basement shelter. At 00:36, one of the monitoring officers left the shelter to assess the security situation and heard three explosions assessed as outgoing artillery fire and saw three muzzle flashes 200-500m west to west-north-west. A representative of the military-civil administration in Popasna then told the SMM by telephone about heavy shelling occurring near Popasna and recommended it to remain in the shelter. The Mission noted that shelling ceased at 01:20 and then resumed from 01:45 until 02:20. Between 00:05 and 02:20, the SMM, while in the shelter, heard approximately 60 undetermined explosions at an undetermined distance and direction...

Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) met with electoral stakeholders in Sofia on 12 and 13 December 2017 to present the  final report  of ODIHR’s limited election observation mission for the 26 March 2017 early parliamentary elections in

GENEVA, Switzerland, 13 December 2017- The 42nd round of the Geneva International Discussions has just concluded...

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of a civilian casualty from Dokuchaievsk. The SMM observed damage to a powerline in Avdiivka resulting in a lack of electricity in central Avdiivka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske and recorded ceasefire violations near all three. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including near Debaltseve and Kozatske.* The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Miusynsk. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure near Artema and Zalizne. The SMM visited four border areas outside of government control...

The development of local-level strategy documents for the handling of environmental matters – so-called Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAPs) – was the focus of a two-day workshop organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro in Podgorica on 7 and 8 December. LEAPs have the objective of enabling municipal authorities to handle environmental matters for which they are responsible in a more effective, sustainable and transparent manner.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Lamberto Zannier visited Ukraine from 11 to 13 December 2017 to discuss issues related to national minorities and discuss opportunities for the HCNM and the government to work together on promoting diversity in different policy areas. In Kyiv,