News and press releases

The last in an annual series of five OSCE-supported training seminars on human rights protection mechanisms concluded in the Akmola Region, Kazakhstan, on 9 November 2018...

Women’s contribution to the sustainable development of rural areas in Kazakhstan was the focus of the First Rural Women’s Forum which concluded on 9 November 2018 in Astana...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM recorded a ceasefire violation and observed new trenches, military and military-type presence inside the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas; it was also restricted near Novoazovsk – close to the border with the Russian Federation – as well as near Kozatske, Orikhove and in Khrustalnyi.* The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to power lines near Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored two public gatherings. In Kherson, the Mission monitored a mourning service for the deceased activist Kateryna Handziuk...

Capacity-building training courses for 15 potential Regional Youth Co-operation Office (RYCO) applicants, held in the spirit of reconciliation among the youth in the region, were organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and RYCO, from 4 to 7 November 2018 in Podgorica...

ROME, 8 November 2018- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Italy’s Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi today reiterated OSCE support to the implementation of the Minsk agreements for a peaceful solution to the crisis in and around Ukraine, in line with OSCE principles and commitments and in full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine...

ASTANA, 8 November 2018 – The 20th Central Asia Media Conference for media representatives and experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, organized by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, concludes today in Astana...

WASHINGTON D.C., 7 November 2018 – The 6 November mid-term elections in the United States were highly competitive and contestants could campaign freely, with media presenting a wide array of information and views, enabling voters to make an informed choice. However, campaign rhetoric was often intensely negative and at times intolerant, including on social networks, the international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) concluded in a statement released today...