News and press releases

COPENHAGEN, 12 November 2018 – In response to the holding of “elections” in the so-called “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine over the weekend, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (Georgia) issued the following statement:

VIENNA, 12 November 2018 – In Vienna today, Makis Voridis, Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism, addressed the Security Committee of the OSCE and is holding a series of bilateral meetings to build synergy between the OSCE’s executive and parliamentary structures on preventing and countering terrorism.

The Mission saw buildings with signs that read “polling stations”. It noted a slight increase in the presence of armed formations in some areas of non-government controlled Donetsk city centre. Some civilians expressed concern to the SMM about “voting”...

Vienna, 11 November 2018. Today, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir, called on all authorities to drop the request to the editor of the Times of Malta to disclose a source of information used in a report on a planned takeover of a building project, after the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) made such request to the daily newspaper.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission’s long-range unmanned aerial vehicle experienced severe jamming near Korsun. It followed up on reports of shelling at the Bakhmut Agrarian Union’s pig farm near Novoluhanske. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Bila Hora and Zhelanne. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, as well as at two border crossing points not under government control. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. In Odessa, the SMM observed graffiti on two monuments associated with the 1905 mutiny on the battleship Potemkin.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. It corroborated a civilian fatality in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka as a result of shrapnel injuries. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Novoselivka and Yasnodolsk. The SMM observed an anti-aircraft-gun inside the Zolote disengagement area and recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas. The SMM observed anti-tank mines for the first time near Orikhove. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. In Kyiv, the SMM observed a public gathering related to an import tax on vehicles. In Kherson, the SMM followed up on the situation of the detained Mekhanik Pogodin tanker.

THE HAGUE, 9 November 2018 – “We will continue to support not only the students of Jajce, but also any other student who wants changes that will lead to a better future,” said Azra Keljalić, a student and President of the Student Council of Jajce Vocational School, as she accepted the 2018 Max van der Stoel Award on behalf of high school students from Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, at a ceremony in The Hague today...