News and press releases

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM followed up on reports of a woman who died as a result of shrapnel injuries in Zhovanka, a government-controlled area of Zaitseve, Donetsk region. Members of the

COPENHAGEN, 9 July 2020 – The Vice-Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, Michael Georg Link (Germany), and Secretary General Roberto Montella discussed today with European Parliament member Nacho Sanchez Amor the need for increased efforts by parliaments to combat fake election observation activities. The practice of state authorities and their proxy organizations arranging visits for international actors outside of the institutional international election observation platforms organized under the auspices of the OSCE/ODIHR, OSCE PA, PACE, NATO PA and the European Parliament is a growing challenge, they said...

COPENHAGEN, 9 July 2020 – Responding to reports that executions are set to resume on the federal level in the United States for the first time since 2003, the leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee renewed calls for universal abolition of the death penalty. Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (Cyprus), Michael Link (Germany), and Kari Henriksen (Norway), the Chair, Vice-Chair and Rapporteur, respectively, of the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, regretted the decision and urged the U.S. government to reconsider.

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department (TNTD), the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) and the OSCE Mission to Serbia organized a webinar on the exploitation of the COVID-19 pandemic by organized crime groups on 8 July 2020.

KYIV, 9 July 2020 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Heidi Grau, made the following statement to the press after the regular meetings of the TCG and its Working Groups held through video conferencing:...

COPENHAGEN, 8 July 2020 – OSCE matters ranging from the valuable work of the field operations and conflict resolution efforts to budgetary issues and political deadlock were in focus today during a bilateral meeting between OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Roberto Montella and Albania’s Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj...

Young people represent the most vulnerable group exposed to violent extremism and radicalization, but also have the greatest potential to combat and prevent it. This was the conclusion of a two-day workshop on youth engagement to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE) and radicalization, organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Ministry of Sports and Youth on 6 and 7 July 2020 in Bečići...