News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine patrol member killed in explosion near Luhansk
Publishing date: 23 April 2017
LUHANSK, 23 April 2017 – A paramedic who was part of a patrol of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) died and two SMM monitors were taken to hospital today after their vehicle was heavily damaged by an explosion near Pryshyb in a non-government controlled area of Luhansk region...
Lack of equal opportunities, one-sided media coverage and limitations on fundamental freedoms created unlevel playing field in Turkey’s constitutional referendum, international observers say
Publishing date: 17 April 2017
ANKARA, 17 April 2017 – The 16 April constitutional referendum in Turkey was contested on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities, the international observers concluded in a statement released today. While the technical aspects of the process were well administered, voters were not provided with impartial information about key aspects of the reform, and limitations on fundamental freedoms had a negative effect, the statement says.
Press Statement of Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Martin Sajdik after meeting of Trilateral Contact Group on 12 April 2017
Publishing date: 13 April 2017
MINSK, 13 April 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 12 April 2017:..
Condemning Stockholm attack, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General say indiscriminate acts of violence can never be justified
Publishing date: 7 April 2017
VIENNA, 7 April 2017 – Indiscriminate acts of violence can and will never be justified or tolerated, said OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier today as they condemned the terrorist attack in Stockholm, offered their condolences to the families of victims and wished the injured a quick recovery...
OSCE to explore common ground on current and future security challenges
Publishing date: 7 April 2017
VIENNA, 7 April, 2017 – Fostering a better understanding of threat perceptions is the focus of discussions among senior officials from capitals and ambassadors of the participating States to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna (Kahlenberg) today...
OSCE participating States extend mandate of OSCE Observer Mission at the Russian Checkpoints to 31 July 2017
Publishing date: 6 April 2017
VIENNA, 6 April 2017 – The mandate of the OSCE Observer Mission at the Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk was extended by three months to 31 July 2017 following a consensus decision today by participating States at the OSCE Permanent Council...
No alternative but to reduce risk of military escalation in eastern Ukraine, say OSCE Chair’s Special Representative Sajdik and Chief Monitor Apakan
Publishing date: 5 April 2017
VIENNA, 5 April 2017 – There is no alternative but to reduce the risk of a military escalation and find a way to constructively implement the Minsk agreements, said the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office’s Special Representative to the Trilateral Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, Ertugrul Apakan, in their addresses to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna today...