News and press releases

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission observed an impact site in a residential area of Sakhanka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, where it observed calm situations. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including in Sorokyne, Olenivka and Luhansk city.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Sievierodonetsk and Klynove. The SMM facilitated and monitored repairs of water wells in Krasnyi Lyman. The SMM observed a ten-truck convoy marked “Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation” travelling through non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region and was prevented from following it into a compound in Luhansk city. The Mission visited two border areas not under government control...

VIENNA, 26 January 2018 – Following the blocking of Charter97.org in Belarus, a popular website on current affairs in the country, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today called on the authorities to ensure unrestricted access to the Internet...

VIENNA, 26 January 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today called on the Turkish authorities to drop terrorism charges against journalists and set them free...

ROME/WARSAW/VIENNA, 26 January 2018 – Ahead of tomorrow’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day, OSCE officials today called on all participating States to commemorate the victims of the Nazi regime, as part of their educational activities to address anti-Semitism and all forms of intolerance...

Nearly 30 young officials from six OSCE participating States in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus increased their knowledge about democratic institutions and OSCE commitments in the field of democratic governance during the latest edition of the Young Policy Adviser Course, organized by the

VIENNA, 26 January 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today, in a letter to Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, called on the Russian Parliament not to adopt the draft law that through amendments to the “Statute on the Mass Media” extends the status of a "foreign agent" to individuals...

Handling digital evidence by first responders was the focus of a one-week train-the-trainer course for South-Eastern Europe’s criminal justice institutions, which took place from 22 to 26 January 2018 at the Albanian Security Academy in Tirana...