News and press releases

Maryse Daviet, Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro participated in the opening of the fourth regional conference of equality bodies in South-Eastern Europe on 28 and 29 October 2019 in Podgorica. The conference was hosted by the Institution of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro...

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 25 and 26 October, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. Between the evenings of 26 and 27 October, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and

BRATISLAVA, 28 October 2019 – Young women and men from across the OSCE region and beyond gathered in Bratislava today to discuss how to best engage youth for a safer future by 2030. The two-day OSCE-wide Youth Forum brings together young people, ambassadors, diplomats and experts for an inter-generational dialogue under the OSCE’s flagship Perspectives 20-30 initiative, a key priority of Slovakia’s OSCE Chair...

COPENHAGEN, 28 October 2019 – Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (MP, Cyprus) and Michael Georg Link (MP, Germany), Chair and Vice-Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, called today for authorities in Minsk to halt the execution of Viktar Syarhel, who was reportedly sentenced to death in Belarus for killing an eight-month old girl...

The OSCE Mission to Moldova organized two workshops, 24 October in Chisinau and 25 October in Comrat, to enhance professional capacity and co-operation of state institutions working in the field of national minorities' rights. The events brought together some 50 representatives from the Agency for Interethnic Relations, the Ombudsperson’s Office, the Equality Council, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research as well as ethno-cultural and national minority organizations and regional authorities from the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia...

The Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, organized a three-day meeting on export control from 23 to 25 October 2019 in Aral, Kyrgyzstan. The meeting brought together over thirty licensing, customs and other governmental authorities of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan...

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Two men injured near the Kondrashivka pumping station near non-government-controlled Pankivka.     The Mission saw damage to civilian properties in

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission saw damage from small-arms fire to a functioning school in non-government-controlled Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement

VIENNA, 25 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, welcomed today the release of several journalists in Turkey.

VIENNA, 25 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his concern today about the order of the examining magistrate of the court in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to hold journalist Robert Bas in custody to leverage him to disclose his sources.

TIRANA, 25 October 2019 — Making tangible steps towards a more strategic, action-oriented approach to co-operation between the OSCE and its Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation was the focus of the two-day 2019 OSCE Mediterranean Conference, which concluded today in Tirana...

STRASBOURG, 25 October 2019 – OSCE PA President George Tsereteli took part in the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament, hosted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 24-25 October. The event, which gathered Speakers of Parliament from 47 countries on the Eurasian continent, provided an opportunity for productive discussions on common challenges in the region and on the role of parliaments and parliamentary diplomacy in international relations...

VIENNA / SARAJEVO, 25 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Kathleen Kavalec, strongly condemned today a death threat sent to Avdo Avdić, a journalist of the Žurnal news website...

A three-day training course aimed at further strengthening the capacity of Uzbekistan to counter terrorist financing concluded in Tashkent on 25 October 2019...

On 25 October at 10:45 (Moscow time), a convoy of 27 vehicles arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). All 27 vehicles were checked by Russian Federation border guards and customs officers prior to their crossing into Ukraine...

Parliamentary oversight of the security sector was the topic of a two-day workshop organized in Podgorica by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro for members of the country’s parliament and parliamentary staff on 24 and 25 October 2019...

More than 20 students of law, political, and security studies from universities in Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Mostar, Tuzla and Zenica learnt about the security sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) at a five-day OSCE-supported Youth and Security School, which concluded on 25 October 2019 in Sarajevo...

COPENHAGEN, 25 October 2019 – In response to reports that the current U.S. administration is considering withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty, a multilateral agreement establishing a system of unarmed observation flights over the territories of 34 State Parties, Filippo Lombardi, Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Political Affairs and Security, issued the following statement...

More than 25 canine officers (K-9) of the State Committee for National Security, Ministry of Interior and the State Customs Services (KSCS) completed OSCE-supported advanced train–the-trainers courses at the World Customs Organization’s Regional Training Centre in Bishkek from 7 to 25 October 2019...

Members of the OSCE Mediterranean Points of Contact (PoC) Network on Border Security and Management completed a three-day intensive training course on 24 October 2019 on two gendered aspects of transnational threats: terrorism and trafficking in human beings. The course was held at the premises of the International Co-operation Division of the Spanish National Police in Madrid...

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the Mission continued to observe reconstruction works of the broken section of the bridge. The SMM saw for the

TIRANA, 24 October 2019 – While Albania looks to Europe for its future, our history, geography and economy are rooted in the Mediterranean region, stated today in Tirana Albania’s Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Gent Cakaj, while opening 2019 OSCE Mediterranean Conference...

On 24 October at 06:47 (Moscow time), the eighty-sixth Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 16 vehicles were checked by Russian Federation border guards and customs officers prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All 16 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 14:00 on 24 October.

Some 45 participants from Parliament, Supreme Court, government bodies, civil society and media-related NGOs participated in a roundtable discussion on access to information on 24 October 2019 in Nur-Sultan. The event was jointly organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan and the NGO Legal Media Centre...

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) conducted on 24 October 2019, in Sarajevo, a training course on ethical standards and disciplinary practice for judges, prosecutors and legal associates. The training was organized in co-operation with the Judicial and Prosecutorial Training Centre of the Federation of BiH.

STRASBOURG, 24 October 2019 – OSCE PA President George Tsereteli and Secretary General Roberto Montella met yesterday in Strasbourg with Klara Dobrev, Vice President of the European Parliament, and Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister, to discuss OSCE-EU relations as well as common challenges of the European continent. They agreed on the need to enhance co-operation between the OSCE PA and the European Parliament and invest more on joint projects, including on election observation and conflict prevention efforts...

WASHINGTON D.C., 24 October 2019 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovak Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák, and OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger discussed yesterday the role of international organizations and regional co-operation in preventing conflicts at an event moderated by Baroness Catherine Ashton of Upholland, Chair of the Global Europe Program of the Wilson Center and former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM continued to observe reconstruction works of the broken section of the bridge. The Mission

National Anti-Trafficking Co-ordinators and Rapporteurs from 42 countries across the OSCE region gathered in Bratislava on 22 and 23 October 2019 for the largest annual meeting of this kind at the international level. They discussed how to address current human trafficking-related challenges and foster the implementation of international commitments, policies and standards set forth by the OSCE and the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings...

Summary Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission saw damage from gunfire to residential properties in non-government-controlled Dokuchaievsk. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM continued

VIENNA, 22 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today strongly condemned the imprisonment of Ukrainian journalist, writer and blogger Stanislav Aseev, who goes by the pen name Vasin...

Emmanuel Decaux of France has been elected as new President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration on 14 October 2019 after members of the Court, appointed by the States parties to the Convention on Conciliation and Arbitration within the OSCE, were invited to elect a new Bureau of the Court for a mandate of six years. Decaux succeeds Christian Tomuschat of Germany who served in the position from 2013 to 2019...

The OSCE Center in Ashgabat, jointly with the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA), organized a seminar on institutional and legislative measures to combat corruption on 21 and 22 October in Ashgabat. The event brought together representatives of different ministries and state bodies, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and Economics, the Ministry of National Security, the Ministry of Justice, the Central Bank, and the Prosecutor-General’s Office...

VIENNA, 22 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, said today that journalists’ safety must be ensured at all times. The statement followed recent incidents with several journalists covering public protests in Baku...

VIENNA, 22 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his concern today following several violent incidents against journalists in Spain over the past week, as well as the arrest of a journalist on 18 October, after protests started on 14 October in Barcelona...

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 18 and 19 October, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations both in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Between the evenings of 19 and 20 October, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in

The OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre and Hungary’s Ministry of Defence organized a symposium in Budapest from 16 to 18 October 2019 to mark 25 years of the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security. This landmark document, signed in the Hungarian capital in 1994, contains key principles and commitments for the organization’s 57 participating States related to security relations between states and to the control of all armed and security forces within a state...

COPENHAGEN, 21 October 2019 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli and Secretary General Roberto Montella have wrapped up a visit to Belgrade, where they held a series of bilateral meetings last week and participated in the 141st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union...

The OSCE Secretariat and Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, agreed to strengthen their co-operation in combating cross-border crime, trafficking in human beings and addressing migratory challenges, in a Working Arrangement document signed last week...

An advanced training course aimed at increasing border guards’ operational awareness to detect forged documents concluded on 18 October 2019 in Skopje...

VIENNA, 21 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, announced today that his Office will organize a high-level conference on media freedom issues, to be held in Moscow on 6 November. The conference on “Freedom of the Media and Safety of Journalists in the Russian Federation and the OSCE region: Challenges and Opportunities in the Digital Age”, will be organized by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation...

A week-long live simulation exercise on how to identify and rescue victims of human trafficking concluded on 18 October 2019 in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. More than 40 professionals from law enforcement, labour inspectorates, prosecutorial offices, NGOs and social services from all across the country participated in the live-action training.

The civic and social activism of youth was the focus of the annual three-day Zhas (Youth) Camp that concluded on 20 October 2019 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Some thirty young people were selected to attend the event following a competition held in four major cities where they successfully pitched their ideas for social initiatives and projects.

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations both in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission saw damage to a functioning school in non-government-controlled Oleksandrivka. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM saw workers from

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The SMM followed up on reports of a boy injured due exploding ammunition in the Budonivskyi district of

A three-day training of trainers’ course on enhancing oversight of the security sector jointly organized by ODIHR and the OSCE Secretariat concluded on 18 October 2019 in Yerevan. The capacity building event was designed to increase the human rights investigation skills of staff members of Armenia’s ombuds institution and help them train security sector personnel on human rights compliance.

Over 50 education experts, representatives of ministries of education, pedagogical institutes, universities and academia gathered at the expert meeting and workshop on International Assessments in the Area of Education and Utilization of Their Findings for Education Improvement. The event was organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) on 17 and 18 October 2019 in Sarajevo...

Tajik youth discussed the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality at an OSCE-organized roundtable discussion on 17 October 2019 in Dushanbe. The event was dedicated to the International Day of Rural Women. Some 60 members of the Gender Champions network took part in the discussion, as well as representatives of civil society and the international community...

The OSCE Centre organized a series of lectures on codes of conduct and ethical standards in law enforcement from 14 to 19 October 2019 in Ashgabat. The Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Border Institute of the State Border Service of Turkmenistan each hosted a programme of lectures. They were attended by police cadets, law students from the Institute of International Relations and the Turkmen State University and cadets of the Border and Military Institutes.

The first international scientific and practical conference on The Present Day Military Conflicts: Content and Lessons Learned took place on 15 and 16 October 2019 in Tashkent. The event was organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, in co-operation with the Academy of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan.