News and press releases

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period, following a renewed commitment to ceasefire for 24 hours to mark the “International Day for Protection of Children”. The Mission followed up on allegations of civilian casualties in Avdiivka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* The Mission heard three bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire near Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM saw for the first time a mine hazard sign near Teplychne. The Mission facilitated and monitored water drilling in Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM monitored public gatherings in Kyiv and Lviv and a small protest in Kharkiv...

Representatives of National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) from OSCE participating States and Council of Europe member States discussed a draft compilation of European rules related to the administrative detention of migrants at a consultative meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic

COPENHAGEN, 2 June 2017 – Nilza Sena, Portuguese Member of Parliament and Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s economic and environmental committee, responded with deep disappointment following the announcement of the U.S. President Thursday to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. The formal withdrawal is expected to go into effect in November 2020...

Representatives of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) from 27 OSCE participating States attended the 2017 NHRI Academy, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) from 29 May to 2 June 2017 in Poznan, Poland.

Twenty Kyrgyz Border Service Officers improved their skills in map reading, pathfinding and providing first aid in the field during a course held from 8 May to 2 June 2017 at the Gissar Training Centre in Tajikistan, as part of the third phase of the OSCE’s Patrol Programming and Leadership Project...

Draft amendments to Ukraine’s Law on the Privatization of State–owned and Municipal Print Press were presented by lawyers of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine (SCTRBU), the Ukrainian Association of Media Business (UAMB), the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM) and the Human Rights Platform NGO on 24 May 2017 in Kyiv, concluding a process supported by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine...

In Donetsk region the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations compared with the previous reporting period. In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, but fewer explosions, compared to the previous reporting period. The Mission observed damage from shelling and shooting in Novotoshkivske and Dokuchaievsk, respectively, and followed up on allegations of civilian casualties in Novoazovsk. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske and heard a shot of small-arms fire inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. The SMM facilitated and monitored repair works to high voltage power lines in Zolote and to water well drilling in Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM visited one border area outside of government control in Luhansk region. The SMM monitored gatherings in Odessa region and Lviv...