News and press releases

TBILISI, 19 July 2018 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (Georgia) participated this week in the 15th annual South Caucasus Media Conference organized by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media in Tbilisi, Georgia...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of a woman injured by shelling in Dokuchaievsk. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near and observed again military presence inside the Zolote disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas as well as near Hryhorivka and, again, in areas of Donetsk region outside government control near Zaichenko and Bezimenne and in areas of Luhansk region outside government control at the border with the Russian Federation. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Alchevsk and Buhaivka. The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical civilian infrastructure near Stanytsia Luhanska, Bolotene and Novotoshkivske. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a court hearing in relation to an attack on members of the Roma community. In Zakarpattia region, the SMM followed up on reports of a fire at a church kindergarten attended entirely by children of the Roma community...

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) supported the development and launch of a digital government service enabling Ukrainian individuals and businesses to initiate minor construction projects via a simple on-line notification without visiting a government office in person. The service, launched on 18 July in Kyiv, helps to remove a potential avenue for official abuse or corruption. The online service, covers 80 percent of construction projects, was presented today by the Ukrainian State Architecture and Building Inspection, State e-Governance Service and Ministry of Justice.

VIENNA, 19 July 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today expressed his great concern in a letter to Ukrainian authorities following the recent detention and extradition of a journalist to Turkey.

VIENNA, 19 July 2018 – Slovakia’s OSCE Chairmanship next year will pursue strategies that boost multilateralism, promote conflict prevention and focus on addressing the needs of people, said the country’s Foreign and European Affairs State Secretary Lukáš Parízek in Vienna today, as he addressed the Permanent Council on the incoming Chairmanship’s priority areas...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near and observed again military presence inside the Zolote disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas as well as, again, in areas of Donetsk region outside government control near Zaichenko and Bezimenne. The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical civilian infrastructure near Zalizne, Artema, Zaitseve and Novotoshkivske. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a gathering outside the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office...

VIENNA, 18 July 2018 – Slovenia worked towards restoring confidence and advancing meaningful dialogue among OSCE participating States and placed particular focus on the role of women in security processes, said Chairperson of the Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) and Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the OSCE Ambassador Andrej Benedejčič as he opened the last meeting of the FSC as Chair...