News and press releases

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe donated technical equipment to the press centre of Tajikistan’s Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence at a handover ceremony on 17 August 2018 in Dushanbe. The equipment will be used for broadcasting from locations where disasters occur, thus contributing to capacity building of journalists reporting on disasters, increasing the quality of coverage and preventing the spreading of inaccurate information.

On the morning of 16 August, an SMM patrol consisting of five SMM members and two armoured vehicles was positioned on the north-eastern edge of Holmivskyi (non-government-controlled, 49km north-east of Donetsk).

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. Small-arms fire was assessed as directed at an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle near Berezivske. The SMM observed military positions and a recently extended trench inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, near Starolaspa and Zolote-2/Karbonit, and again near Zaichenko. The SMM observed a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines near Sopyne. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical water infrastructure in Luhansk region.

PODGORICA, 16 August 2018 – Wrapping up his first visit to the region as the OSCE PA’s Special Representative on South East Europe today, Mark Pritchard (United Kingdom) underlined the Assembly’s continued commitment to engagement on democracy, the integrity of electoral processes, rule of law, stability and security, human rights, and media freedom. In Albania, he urged speedy completion of justice reform to ensure functioning judicial safeguards and called attention to the rise of nationalist forces in the region.

On 14- 16 August 2018, the OSCE Mobile Training Team delivered an interactive course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters for officers of Turkmenistan’s border and migration services in Ashgabat. The deployment of the Training Team was organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, with the support of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat and in close co-operation with the host country.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of an injured girl in Katerynivka. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, in Oleksandrivske and again near Zaichenko, Bezimenne, and Novoazovsk, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical water infrastructure near Artema, Obozne, Novotoshkivske and Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, as well as near Stanytsia Luhanska.

CHISINAU, 15 August 2018 – The OSCE Mission to Moldova expresses its concern regarding the river-crossing military exercise conducted in the Security Zone by the Operational Group of Russian Forces on 14 and 15 August.