News and press releases

KYIV, 22 April 2019 – The presidential election in Ukraine was competitive and held with respect for fundamental freedoms, the international observers concluded in a preliminary statement released today. The orderly transfer of power should offer the opportunity for strengthening democratic institutions and their accountability, although the campaign for both rounds lacked genuine discussion of issues of public concern, the statement says...

An OSCE-supported seminar on the mechanisms for the legal regulation and digital security of media on the internet took place on 19 April 2019 in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM saw fresh damage from shelling to residential houses in Donetsk city. In Donetsk region, an SMM long-range UAV crashed and an SMM mini-UAV sustained damage from gunfire. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted near Markyne, as well as in Novoazovsk and Dovzhanske, areas near the border with the Russian Federation...

At 2045 hrs, 18 April, the SMM launched a long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight over government- and non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region. At 0126 hrs, 19 April, while near Vuhledar (government-controlled, 48km south-west of Donetsk), the UAV encountered dual GPS signal interference, assessed as due to jamming...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. A man was injured due to the detonation of an explosive device in Fedorivka. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM observed long queues of civilians at the Stanytsia Luhanska entry exit-checkpoint. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted in non-government-controlled Shevchenko and near Novolaspa and Yasne, as well as near a border crossing point outside of government control in Leonove, Luhansk region...

COPENHAGEN, 19 April 2019 – The Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights and humanitarian affairs committee, Margareta Kiener Nellen (MP, Switzerland) today reiterated her full support for efforts aimed at achieving a recommitment to a ceasefire in Ukraine on the occasion of the upcoming Easter festivities...

SARAJEVO, 19 April 2019 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) presented today in Sarajevo its second report on the monitoring of corruption cases before courts in BiH. The report concludes that the judicial response to corruption in BiH is insufficient, particularly with regard to processing of medium and high-level cases...