News and press releases

ROME / VIENNA, 19 February 2018 – The targeting of innocent civilians in indiscriminate acts of violence is unacceptable and never justified, said OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Italy’s Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano and OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger today following the terrorist attacks in Kizlyar, Dagestan, in the Russian Federation. They offered their condolences to the families of victims and wished a quick recovery to the injured...

An OSCE-organized training course on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation was held for 50 young professionals from the OSCE region and the Organization’s Partners for Co-operation from 12 to 16 February in Vienna. The course was held in the framework of the OSCE Scholarship for Peace and Security and jointly organized by the OSCE together with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.

On 17 February 2018, the SMM followed up on media reports of an incident at the building where the Russian Centre for Science and Culture “Rossotrudnichestvo" is located, at 2A Borysohlibska Street in Kyiv. At 13:15, the SMM saw multiple phrases (such as "Death to Russia") in Ukrainian language freshly spray-painted on the interior walls of the building on the ground floor and in the staircase leading to the second floor. The SMM also saw scattered chairs and furniture, broken information boards, and the flag of the Russian Federation which had been torn apart.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. Small-arms fire hit an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle near Sentianivka. In Dnipro, the Mission followed up on the condition of a three-year-old girl who had been injured by the explosion of unexploded ordnance in Krasnohorivka on 6 February. The SMM observed fresh damage to civilian properties in residential areas of Dokuchaievsk caused by gunfire.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed fresh damage to civilian properties, including schools, in residential areas of Dokuchaievsk caused by gunfire. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske disengagement area and near the Zolote disengagement area.

VIENNA, 16 February 2018 – Today’s court decision to imprison journalists for life constitutes an unparalleled level of suppression of dissenting voices in Turkey, Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and David Kaye, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression said today.

VIENNA, 16 February 2018 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today welcomed the release of the German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel.