News and press releases

COPENHAGEN, 11 October 2018 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) has appointed Austrian parliamentarian Roman Haider to serve as the Assembly’s Special Representative on Central Asia...

At 8:59 on 10 October, an SMM patrol consisting of five members and two armoured vehicles was positioned on road H-20 approximately 1.5km south of Kamianka (government controlled, 20km north of Donetsk), and 3km north of the Donetsk Filtration Station.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region but fewer ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of casualties in Maiorove and Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM observed damage as a result of shelling in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. It continued monitoring all three disengagement areas, where its access remained restricted. The SMM’s access was also again restricted near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka and Verkhnoshyrokivske.* The SMM saw weapons in violation of the agreed withdrawal lines near Ocheretyne, Smolianynove and Metolkine. The Mission observed newly laid mines on both sides of the contact line. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM also facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the phenol sludge reservoir near Zalizne and to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema.

Enhancing responses to sexual and gender-based violence in Albania was the focus of a capacity building event that brought together police officers and civil society representatives in Tirana on 8 and 9 October 2018. The event was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human

The role of legal professionals in ensuring the adequate protection of national minorities’ rights, by way of fair and effective investigation and adjudication, especially in cases related to hate crime, was the focus of...

WARSAW, 10 October 2018 – While underlining that most OSCE participating States had fully abolished capital punishment, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), expressed concern over suggestions in some countries that the death penalty be re-introduced in certain instances.

ANTALYA, 9 October 2018 – Participating in the Third Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments today, OSCE PA President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) voiced the necessity to respect international commitments to support sustainable growth across the OSCE area and beyond...