News and press releases

BERLIN, 13 July 2018 – An OSCE Parliamentary Assembly seminar held this week in Berlin, Germany, focused on how to prevent ethnic conflicts through law and the exchange of best practice, notably through the protection of national minorities and accommodating ethnic diversity. The participants discussed in an informal setting the central role which parliamentarians could play in forming government policy towards national minorities and in promoting legislation that can protect the rights of national minorities.

KYIV, 14 July 2018 – Concluding a two-day visit to Kyiv, the OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender Issues, Dr. Hedy Fry (MP, Canada) underlined the need for greater equality between women and men to fully exploit Ukraine’s reform agenda and conflict-resolution efforts.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, compared with the previous reporting period, and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) near Lozove and at an SMM long-range UAV near Sakhanka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it again observed military presence inside the Zolote disengagement area and saw a white signal flare fired near a checkpoint south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas.* It was also restricted in areas of Donetsk region outside government control near Lozove, Zaichenko and Bezimenne.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. An SMM long-range UAV recorded outgoing explosions and impacts close to a position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Sakhanka, while a position of the armed formations was only about 260m away. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to other essential civilian infrastructure near Zalizne, Zaitseve, Novotoshkivske, Zhovte and Stanytsia Luhanska.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Krasnohorivka and Zoria. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Zaichenko and near Dovzhanske, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Muratove and Kreminna. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to other essential civilian infrastructure near Zalizne, Zaitseve, Novotoshkivske, Raivka and Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM monitored a court hearing in Kherson and a gathering in Kyiv.

BISHKEK, 12 July 2018- The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek (POiB) and United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) co-organized a seminar on Central Asia-Afghanistan policy partnership. The purpose of the event was an exchange of views on establishing policy partnerships at the expert-analytical level and deepening ties among researchers in the region.

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe completed its activities aimed at building community resilience against terrorist radicalization and violent extremism at grassroots level in the Sughd region on 12 July 2018...

VIENNA, 12 July 2018- Co-operation between the OSCE’s participating States and role of public-private partnerships in enhancing cyber stability between States was the focus of today’s OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna.