News and press releases

VIENNA, 26 November 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today expressed his concern over the restrictive impact on the distribution of Serbian print media in Kosovo following the introduction of recent trade measures. He recalled the necessity to preserve all citizen’s right to access to information in their language...

Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 23 and 24 November, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Between the evenings of 24 and 25 November, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM monitored the security situation following developments at sea near the Kerch Strait. The Mission observed heavy weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in Kostiantynivka. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to a water pipeline in Pervomaisk and continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. In Kyiv, Lviv and Kherson, the Mission monitored public gatherings commemorating the 85th anniversary of Holodomor. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, as well as near Kostiantynivka, Novolaspa, Zaichenko and two areas close to the border with the Russian Federation, Voznesenivka and Novoazovsk.

Strengthening police and community interaction to address safety and security issues affecting communities was the focus of a series of training courses conducted by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, in co-operation with the international organization Saferworld.

COPENHAGEN, 26 November 2018 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) expressed deep concern today over the escalation of tensions in the Kerch Strait between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, called for restraint, and reiterated support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity...

The SMM followed up on the security situation in relation to reported developments at sea, near the Kerch Strait, where on 25 November, three vessels of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces – two artillery boats “Berdiansk” and “Nikopol” and one tug boat “Yany Kapu” – en route from Odessa to Mariupol had been involved in an incident with vessels of the Russian Federation. Reportedly, weapons were used, six sailors were wounded and the three Ukrainian vessels were seized...

KYIV, 26 November 2018 – The OSCE Chairperson’s Special Representative to the Trilateral Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM), Ertugrul Apakan, said today that they followed recent incidents at sea, near the Kerch Strait, with great concern...

In order to support ethical and professional reporting, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights organized a two-day workshop on gender equality for media representatives in Podgorica, on 22 and 23 November.