News and press releases

VIENNA, 29 March 2019- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today publicly denounced threats against journalists of the N1 news channel in Serbia. In a letter sent on 27 March to the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, the Representative expressed his concern about the threats and pressure against the N1 news channel...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle near Nevelske. Near the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, the SMM saw the body of man. The SMM observed ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas. The Mission observed mines near checkpoints on both sides of the contact line. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. In addition, it was denied access at a checkpoint near Zaichenko...

Good practices for strengthening inter-agency co-operation to effectively address hate crimes were the focus of a training session organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights of Greece on 27 and 28 March 2019 in Athens.

THE HAGUE, 28 March 2019 – OSCE PA President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) was in The Hague yesterday for meetings aimed at reinforcing bilateral co-operation with the Dutch parliament and joint work between the Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM)...

SKOPJE, 28 March 2019 – Some 60 judges from North Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia and Slovenia, gathered in Skopje today to discuss preconditions and challenges the Western Balkan countries face on the path towards the application of European judicial standards in their countries...

MINSK, 27 March 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 27 March 2019...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM saw fresh craters in Sentianivka and damage to a house in Marinka. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations, including explosions, inside the Zolote disengagement area. Inside the same area, it also observed military presence and hardware, as well as anti-tank mines across road T-1316. It observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. In addition, it was restricted at a checkpoint near Verkhnoshyrokivske, in a non-government-controlled area of southern Donetsk region...