News and press releases

SARAJEVO, 21 June 2019 – Concluding his two-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovakia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Miroslav Lajčák, stressed the need to explore all avenues to get the country back on track, including through adopting key reforms...

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) hosted consultations between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on 20 June in Washington. The Co-Chairs met separately and then jointly with the Ministers. They also briefed Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker on the situation on the ground and the status of settlement talks. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk also took part in these meetings.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. One civilian was injured by shelling in Donetsk city. The Mission saw fresh damage from shelling to facilities part of a children’s hospital in Donetsk city. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas, including multiple launch rocket systems near Miusynsk. The SMM saw for the first time anti-tank mines near Shyrokyne and unexploded ordnance near Novooleksandrivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement area and elsewhere. Its freedom of movement was also denied at checkpoints near Novoazovsk and Novolaspa, in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region...

The Albanian government, the OSCE Presence in Albania and the Swiss Embassy signed on 18 June 2019 an agreement for implementing a project to support the Albanian parliament and citizen engagement in decision-making.

VIENNA, 20 June 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his deep sorrow following the death of journalist and blogger Vadim Komarov, who died last night in the hospital. He had been in a coma since suffering a violent attack on 4 May in Cherkasy, Ukraine.

Journalists from Turkmenistan’s print, online and broadcast media participated in an OSCE-organized training course on how to cover political, economic and humanitarian issues, which took place in Ashgabat from 18 to 20 June 2019. It provided practical tips on how to cover key national and international events, including elections, visits and parliamentary sessions and how to present economic news in a format understandable to audiences

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, together with UNHCR and the government authorities, donors, partner countries, the Council of Europe Development Bank, participated in the 14th Regional Housing Programme (RHP) steering committee meeting on 18 June 2019 in Podgorica.