News and press releases

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near all three disengagement areas. The SMM’s access remained restricted in the disengagement areas, as well as again near Verkhnoshyrokivske and Yuzhna-Lomuvatka.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of agreed withdrawal lines near Myrne. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs and maintenance work at the Donetsk Filtration Station as well as to water infrastructure in Stanytsia Luhanska, Slovianoserbsk and between Avdiivka and Yasynuvata, and to facilitate demining and repairs at a gas distribution station between Marinka and Oleksandrivka.

CHISINAU, 14 September 2018 – The OSCE Mission to Moldova expresses its concern with regards to a pontoon bridge laying military exercise conducted by the so-called Transdniestrian Armed Forces (TDAF) in the Security Zone near Tiraspol on 14 September.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) teamed up with other organizations working in the area of promoting democracy today in publishing an agenda to focus attention on the constructive and concrete steps that different actors can take to respond to populism by strengthening democracy.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. It observed multiple launch rocket systems in violation of agreed withdrawal lines near Khrustalnyi, Miusynsk and Malynivka. The Mission’s access remained restricted in the disengagement areas, as well as again near Zaichenko and Novoazovsk, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The SMM continued to facilitate the process of restarting operations at the Donetsk Filtration Station, following a power outage. The SMM continued to monitor repairs and maintenance work to water infrastructure in Stanytsia Luhanska and Artema, and to facilitate demining and repairs at the Krasnohorivka gas distribution station between Marinka and Oleksandrivka and houses in Avdiivka. The SMM followed up on reports that protective masks had been distributed in southern Kherson region in response to hazardous chemical air pollution from a chemical plant on the Crimean peninsula.

VIENNA, 14 September 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, welcomed yesterday’s highly significant decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which found that the United Kingdom’s Investigatory Powers Act threatened the confidentiality of journalists’ sources. The Representative previously warned of the potential threat to journalists posed by this law.

VIENNA, 14 September 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, to express his concerns about the seizure of a journalist’s phone and computer, as well as to recall the necessity to respect the protection of journalistic sources and to enquire whether the seizure respected national and international standards.

WARSAW, 13 September 2018 – More must be done to promote the participation of under-represented groups in political decision making if we are to ensure effective, truly democratic governance and societies, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said today, ahead of tomorrow’s International Day of Democracy.