News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
OSCE SMM Spot Report 16/2020: Members of the armed formations continued to deny SMM patrols passage at checkpoints in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions
Publishing date: 22 April 2020
On 21 and 22 April, members of the armed formations again denied SMM attempts to cross into non-government-controlled areas along official crossing routes: twice in Donetsk region and once in Luhansk region, while further attempts to cross into government-controlled areas were also denied, once in
Joint Statement by the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
Publishing date: 21 April 2020
VIENNA, 21 April 2020 – Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, and the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) have held frequent consultations remotely since mid-March, including a joint video conference on 21 April. Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, also participated in these consultations...
Weekly Update from the OSCE Observer Mission at Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk based on information as of 21 April 2020
Publishing date: 21 April 2020
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...
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Daily Report 94/2020 issued on 21 April 2020
Publishing date: 21 April 2020
Summary Compared with the previous 24 hours, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission’s passage continued to be denied at checkpoints of the armed formations near Horlivka, Donetsk region and south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, Luhansk
COVID-19’s economic impact will be profound, and so too should be our response
Publishing date: 21 April 2020
Op-ed by Dr. Elona Gjebrea Hoxha (MP, Albania): Only time will tell what the greatest impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be, whether its effects on public health or on the economy are the most significant in the long run, but with unemployment rates soaring and many businesses closing, it is clear that the economic impacts will be profound to say the least...
OSCE partners with UNODC, EU, Interpol in developing training module on handling electronic evidence to support counter-terrorism efforts
Publishing date: 21 April 2020
How to handle electronic evidence, and in particular, request electronic evidence across borders, to support counter-terrorism efforts was the focus of an online workshop held on 21 April 2020 that brought together national experts from 13 countries and several international organizations...
Parliaments vital for strong democracies in times of crisis, OSCE human rights and parliamentary heads say
Publishing date: 21 April 2020
Warsaw/Copenhagen, 21 April 2020 – A strong role for parliaments is crucial to the transparency and accountability of government measures as the COVID-19 pandemic puts our democracies to the test, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) said in a statement today...