News and press releases

VIENNA, 1 December 2016 – Attacks on journalists and impunity for crimes committed against journalists continue to plague media freedom in the OSCE region, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović told the Permanent Council today when she presented her latest semi-annual report on media freedom developments in the OSCE region over the past six months...

VIENNA, 1 December 2016 – Four male senior officials were presented today with a commemorative white ribbon by the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, honouring their work in promoting gender equality both in the OSCE’s activities and across the region...

TUZLA, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1 December 2016 – The fourth Advanced BiH Security Policy Course, organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Council of Ministers’ Inter-ministerial Working Group on Monitoring the Implementation of BiH Security Policy, concluded today in Tuzla.

The OSCE Mission to Moldova organized its fourth and final event in a year-long series of Human Rights Clubs for lawyers from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River, on 25 November 2016, in Chisinau. The event brought together 46 participants, who discussed ways to better assist clients in accessing health services and medical insurance...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in partnership with the Human and Minority Rights Ministry, launched on 25 November 2016 the campaign "16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence". The campaign was introduced in Podgorica at a conference gathering the main partners in the fight against gender based violence...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region during the reporting period and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM recorded the majority of the ceasefire violations around the Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport area. The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and faced restrictions of its freedom of movement in all three areas.* The SMM camera at the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge recorded at least two ceasefire violations within the disengagement area. The Mission followed up on reports of an accidental civilian casualty in Dokuchaievsk and three non-civilian casualties in Novozvanivka. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons and noted weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas. The SMM monitored repairs to essential infrastructure providing water to 50,000 people in and around Toretsk...

MOSCOW, 30 November 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) met with Russian Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matvienko and State Duma Deputy Chair Petr Tolstoy in Moscow this week for talks that focused on Russian involvement in the work of the OSCE PA, contribution of parliamentarians to the OSCE, and developments in and around Ukraine...