News and press releases

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. On 25 July, the eighty-third Russian convoy of nine vehicles crossed into Ukraine and returned through the Donetsk BCP...

An OSCE-organized seminar on developing effective methods for protecting energy infrastructure from natural hazards was held in Ashgabat on 30 and 31 July 2019...

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines, including multiple launch rocket systems and tanks, on both sides of the contact line. In areas beyond government control, an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted a convoy of eight trucks near the border with the Russian Federation where there is no official border crossing facility. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs to power lines and water pipelines on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at checkpoints of the armed formations near Zaichenko, Novolaspa and Tavrycheske...

A public consultation was organized today in Podgorica by the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, the Council of Europe and the European Union (EU) Delegation to Montenegro on the proposal for the law on Audio-Visual Media Services. Participants included representatives of media companies and NGOs dealing with issues related to media...

WARSAW / VIENNA, 30 July 2019 – Governments must increase their efforts to combat trafficking in human beings and put the human rights and needs of victims at the centre of all responses, the OSCE said on the occasion of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons...

Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 26 and 27 July, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. It recorded no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. Between the evenings of 27 and 28 July, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM observed damage from gunfire to a document processing booth of the Ukrainian Armed Forces entry-exit checkpoint in Marinka. An SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle was hit by small-arms fire near Pervomaisk. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs and maintenance work to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure, including drilling of water wells near Raivka. The SMM saw long queues at a checkpoint of the armed formations near Olenivka. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at checkpoints of the armed formations in Kreminets, Zaichenko, and Novoazovsk and at a border crossing point near Izvaryne...

VIENNA, 29 July 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his concern today about a series of attacks against journalists and the obstruction to media activities during an election-related demonstration on 27 July in Moscow...