News and press releases

MINSK, 5 October 2017 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups in Minsk on 4 October 2017:

The SMM recorded overall fewer ceasefire violations, however, more explosions, in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM assessed damage to facilities at an entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote, and Petrivske, and recorded a calm situation in all three. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* In violation of the withdrawal lines, an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted a probable mortar in Mykolaivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of the thermal power plant in Shchastia, water pipelines in Zolote, a pumping station near Artema, and power lines near Novozvanivka. The Mission visited four border areas not under government control. The SMM monitored a peaceful gathering in Sievierodonetsk. It followed up on reports of a fire at a branch of Sberbank in Lviv.

ANDORRA LA VELLA, 4 October 2017 – Following discussion in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Standing Committee of Heads of Delegations today related to the situation in Spain, Austrian parliamentarian Christine Muttonen, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, issued the following statement:

Making parliaments more representative and gender-sensitive was the focus of discussions among parliamentarians, local elected officials and civil society representatives from Eastern Europe and Central Asia during a regional conference held in Chisinau on 3 and 4 October 2017. The event was

Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4 October 2017 – An Education for Social Justice training for primary schools, organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), concluded on 4 October 2017 in Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Lamberto Zannier presented the first ever children’s illustrated Serbian-Albanian/Albanian-Serbian dictionary (Mali rečnik/Fjalor i vogël) to pupils in two primary schools in Bujanovac and Preševo today. Over the next three days, the dictionary

TBILISI, 4 October 2017 – Concluding a two-day visit to Tbilisi, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir welcomed the amendments to Georgia’s Constitution, recently adopted by the Parliament, which will grant citizens the right to access and freely use the internet. The amendments also enhance the right to access to information and the independence of the public service broadcaster...