News and press releases

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM followed up on reports of two civilians injured by shooting and shelling Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM observed heavy weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas of Donetsk region. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near all three disengagement areas and observed armoured combat vehicles in the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM facilitated and monitored repairs to essential infrastructure near Artema and Zolote-4/Rodina, as well as repairs to houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. Access for the SMM remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, near Zaichenko as well as Izvaryne, an area close to the border with the Russian Federation.

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKIY, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons decreased at both BCPs compared to the previous week...

VIENNA, 20 November 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, in Vienna to establish new co-operation with Albania on the future regulation of online media...

Business ethics and compliance mechanisms in the healthcare sector were the topics of a two-day training seminar for healthcare regulators and professionals organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) on 19 and 20 November 2018 in Tashkent, in support of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in partnership with the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and the Department for Gender Equality, delivered three two-day workshops during October and November 2018 to gender equality focal points from 12 Montenegrin municipalities on how to train their colleagues on understanding gender equality and gender mainstreaming...

On 19 November 2018 the OSCE Mission in Kosovo completed the installation of indoor and outdoor surveillance cameras in the primary school Ali Hasi in the village Cërmjan/Crmljane, located in the municipality of Gjakovë/Djakovica, with the aim of reducing violence in schools. This brings the total number of schools equipped with cameras by the OSCE Mission to 15.

The OSCE Programme Office in Astana supported a roundtable discussion on steps Kazakhstan could take to regulate the release and marketing of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)- any organism or microorganism, including agricultural products, whose genetic material has been altered by means of genetic engineering- on 20 November 2018 in Astana...