News and press releases

KYIV, 22 July 2019 – Ukraine’s early parliamentary elections were efficiently run and respected fundamental freedoms. The campaign was nevertheless characterised by widespread malpractice and the misuse of political finance through a complex blend of business and political interests, international observers concluded in a preliminary statement published today...

A three-day train-the-trainer course on countering terrorist financing was organized in Vienna for Uzbek participants from 17 to 19 July 2019 by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime's Global Programme against Money Laundering (UNODC/GPML)...

Following a recommitment to the ceasefire which began at 00:01 on 21 July, in connection with the agreement reached at the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on 17 July, the SMM continued to monitor the security situation...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The Mission learned about readiness to observe the recommitment to the ceasefire by the Ukrainian side of the JCCC and the armed formations in Donetsk and Luhansk starting from 00:01 on 21 July. The SMM followed up on a woman who died of shrapnel injuries in Donetsk city. The Mission saw fresh damage caused by gunfire to civilian properties in Donetsk city and in Marinka. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM continued to monitor demining activities and the operation of a shuttle bus service in government-controlled areas north of the bridge. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs to water pipelines near Horlivka and Maiorsk, as well as to power lines near Novokyivka. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at a checkpoint near non-government-controlled Verkhnoshyrokivske...

The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek on 19 July 2019 launched the first of four clean-up campaigns at Issyk-Kul Lake, in Kyrgyzstan, as an integral part of a roundtable discussion on the importance of the involvement of public institutions and society, and public awareness on environmental issues. The discussion is taking place in Chok-Tal village and organized by the Issyk-Kul Aarhus Centre, the Clean Issyk-Kul Public Foundation, and the Chon-Sary-Oy ayil local authority with support of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek...

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe in co-operation with the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Ministry of Interior, the Supreme Court and other State agencies, organized a series of training courses on the Istanbul Protocol, which concluded on 13 July in Sarob, near Dushanbe. Some 150 judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials of Tajikistan participated in the courses...

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe conducted a series of training courses from 28 June to 19 July 2019 on using social media to promote the work of Public Councils on Police Reform in Tajikistan. The courses were organized in Dushanbe, Gharm, Kulob and Khujand and brought together 100 participants, including members of the Republican, Regional and District Public Councils on Police Reform, as well as representatives of the country’s Interior Ministry...