News and press releases

The 11th annual OSCE regional workshop “Explosive Hazards Reduction and Response: Countering Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IEDs)” is taking place in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan 18-23 August, 2019. The five-day event brought together over thirty international experts to discuss recent developments in national, regional, and global C-IEDs strategies. The workshop was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe in close co-operation with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan...

MINSK, 21 August 2019 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups in Minsk on 21 August 2019:

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number of ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. • A man was injured by a mine explosion near government-controlled Illienko in Luhansk region. • Small-arms fire was assessed as directed at SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle near Luhansk city. • The SMM continued to monitor the situation in the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. • The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region. • It saw a fortified position and trenches of the armed formations near Novooleksandrivka. • The SMM monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs to and the operation of essential civilian infrastructure, including repairs to a phenol sludge reservoir. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at a heavy weapons holding area in a government-controlled area of Donetsk region.

WARSAW, 22 August 2019 – Amid increasingly violent outbreaks of religious intolerance, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) welcomes the first-ever United Nations International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion today, and calls on governments to promote the interfaith dialogue and education needed to combat hatred and violence.

Following the presidential election in North Macedonia on 21 April and 5 May 2019, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has published its final report. The election was overall well-administered, despite some technical challenges. Voters were able to make an informed

A three-day national tabletop exercise on the topic of countering the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes started in Dushanbe on 21 August 2019.

• Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations both in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • A man was injured due to gunfire in Zaitseve. • Small-arms fire was assessed as directed at SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicles near Pervomaisk and Smile. • The SMM continued to monitor the situation inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. • The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near government-controlled Yasnobrodivka and non-government-controlled Ternove. • The SMM monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs to and the operation of essential civilian infrastructure, including repairs to a phenol sludge reservoir. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at a checkpoint near non-government-controlled Verkhnoshyrokivske.