News and press releases

On 13 and 14 July 2017, the OSCE Mission to Moldova organized a training event for 15 law students from Balti, Cahul and Chisinau to improve their skills in providing free legal aid in Moldova. The training focused on honing students’ ability to conduct public presentations that convey easily understood messages on what the legal aid system is and how individuals can use it to seek solutions to various existing legal problems...

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. The SMM camera recorded explosions inside Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including again in Siedove (twice) and at a permanent storage site.* The SMM observed a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines near Vrubivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs to the Mykhailivka-Shchastia Thermal Power Plant high-voltage power lines near Berdianka. The SMM followed up on reports of a lack of electricity in non-government-controlled parts of Zolote. The Mission visited three border areas not under government control...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number of ceasefire violations, although more explosions, in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. In Holmivskyi the SMM heard small-arms fire near the area where it was flying an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas where its access remained restricted.* The SMM camera recorded explosions inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. An SMM UAV spotted a mortar within the respective withdrawal lines inside a residential area in Pikuzy. The SMM facilitated the recovery of the body of a dead civilian in the Trudovskyi area of Petrovskyi district in Donetsk city. It monitored repairs of a bridge near Yenakiieve and followed up on reports of a lack of electricity in parts of Zolote. The Mission visited a border area not under government control in Luhansk region. The SMM monitored protests in Kyiv, Kherson and Kharkiv...

ASTANA, 14 July 2017 – A three-day needs assessment mission to explore how the OSCE can support Kazakhstan in facilitating regional trade concluded today in Astana...

State officials from Turkmenistan gained expertise on protecting freedom of religion or belief while promoting security at a train-the-trainer course organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights(ODIHR) in Warsaw from 11 to 14 July 2017.  The main focuses of the training

The third Inter-University School on Human Rights welcomed 25 students from 13 universities and 10 countries of the OSCE region from 10 to 14 July 2017 in Chernihiv, Ukraine. The annual event serves as a platform for strengthening the capacity of future legal professionals in human rights protection...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including a similar number of explosions, compared with the previous reporting period. It continued monitoring the disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Siedove, and at a checkpoint in Novoazovsk near the border with the Russian Federation, where armed men stopped the SMM and asked all SMM members to step out of their vehicles.* The SMM continued to monitor the situation of civilians travelling across the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. It facilitated and monitored the completion of repair works to the Mykhailivka-Almazna high-voltage power lines near Pervomaisk, which supplies electricity to approximately 150,000 people. The SMM monitored three peaceful protests in Kyiv.