News and press releases

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded two ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Petrivske disengagement areas. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Izvaryne, at a border crossing point in Luhansk region near the border with the Russian Federation, in Amvrosiivka, Verkhnoshyrokivske and a heavy weapons holding area in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region.*

New York, 17 March 2018 – During his visit to New York OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir met with high-level United Nations officials and a broad range of civil society organizations to discuss ways of joining forces in promoting media freedom and protection of journalists.

NEW YORK, 16 March 2018 – “Continuing the detention of Cumhuriyet CEO Akın Atalay, in a trial that has failed to produce proof of wrongdoing by the defendant, is unacceptable and deeply worrying,” OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir said today, hours after the seventh hearing concluded in the Cumhuriyet trial in Silivri, outside of Istanbul.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it heard ceasefire violations assessed as inside the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Izvaryne and Sievernyi (border crossing points in Luhansk region near the border with the Russian Federation) and in Verkhnoshyrokivske.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Hnutove and Bakhmut. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the Petrivske water pumping station in Artema and again facilitated access for workers to the Donetsk Filtration Station. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a march related to court proceedings regarding events at Maidan in early 2014. In Kharkiv, the Mission monitored a gathering on the fourth anniversary of 2014 events...

BIHAC, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 16 March 2018 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in co-operation with the Partnership for Peace Consortium’s Counterterrorism Working Group, concluded a two-day tabletop exercise in Bihac today, focusing on practical views and ideas in addressing the challenges of violent extremism...

COPENHAGEN, 15 March 2018 – In response to the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the United Kingdom on 4 March, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) today issued the following statement:...

The Women Entrepreneurs Forum, an OSCE-supported platform for promoting female entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women living in rural areas, concluded on 16 March 2018 in Atyrau, Kazakhstan.