News and press releases

VIENNA, 18 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, denounced today an incident targeting N1 journalists in Serbia.

A seminar on the protection of freedom of expression and policies to counter disinformation and fake news on the Internet, took place on 18 October 2019 in Nur-Sultan. The event was supported by the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan and co-organized with the International Centre for Journalism MediaNet.

A seminar on the protection of freedom of expression and policies to counter hate speech on the Internet took place on 18 October 2019 in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. It was supported by the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan and co-organized with the NGO “Legal Media Centre”...

On 17 October at 07:22 (Moscow time), the eighty-fifth Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 12 vehicles were checked by Russian Federation border guards and customs officers prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All 12 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 15:00 on 17 October...

COPENHAGEN, 17 October 2019 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli and Secretary General Roberto Montella met Wednesday in Belgrade with the President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Mustafa Şentop, for wide-ranging discussions. Tsereteli noted Turkey’s important role in the OSCE region and underlined the growing international concern over its military operation in northeastern Syria. Tsereteli urged Turkey to pursue its objectives with more peaceful means instead of large-scale military action...

The 2019 Aarhus Centres Annual Meeting concluded on 17 October 2019today in Vienna...

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

YEREVAN / BAKU, 17 October, 2019- The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (PRCIO) Andrzej Kasprzyk, visited the region from 14 to 17 October.

Assisting the ongoing criminal justice reform in Kyrgyzstan is a priority of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and the Kyrgyz Government, with the aim to strengthen the rule of law...

On 14 October, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in co-operation with the Parliamentary Committee on Gender Equality, organized a workshop for 15 parliamentary staff from eight committees and the Bureau of Financial Affairs. The workshop focused on gender mainstreaming in budget planning, in policy development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, with special emphasis on gender analysis...

Experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented the final report and recommendations of the observation mission to the 2019 local elections in Albania during a visit to Tirana from 14 to 17 October 2019.

VALLETTA, 16 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, participated today in ceremonies commemorating the two-year anniversary of the brutal assassination of leading investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, during a visit to Malta. He met with the family of the journalist at the memorial, near the city of Bidnija, where she was killed.

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM continued observing workers from government-controlled areas conduct construction work at the

BELGRADE, 16 October 2019 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli and Secretary General Roberto Montella are in Belgrade this week for a series of meetings and engagements. The PA President and Secretary General met with President of the Serbian National Assembly Maja Gojković, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, representatives of the political opposition, civil society, and the Serbian Delegation to the OSCE PA...

GENEVA/STRASBOURG/VIENNA, 16 October 2019- "Government of Malta remains far behind in its obligation to ensure that investigations in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia are conducted in a prompt, effective, independent and impartial manner,” said today in a joint statement Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, and Agnes Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

MINSK, 15 October 2019 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups in Minsk on 15 October 2019:...

Summary Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Civilians, including children, injured from hand grenades and landmines in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Small-arms fire was assessed as

The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons decreased at both BCPs compared to the previous week...

MINSK, 15 October 2019 – Following an invitation from the country’s authorities, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission (EOM) for the 17 November early parliamentary elections in Belarus.

COPENHAGEN, 15 October 2019 – A new report issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism (CCT) provides a comprehensive look at the state of implementation of a key UN Security Council Resolution on addressing the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters returning or relocating from conflict zones...

An OSCE-supported workshop to discuss practical ways to improve the national legal and institutional mechanisms of rehabilitation and compensation of crime victims in Moldova took place from 9 to 11 October 2019 in Chisinau. Thirty-five representatives of the justice, prosecution, health and finance state institutions, as well as relevant parliamentary committees participated in the event. The workshop was organized in cooperation with the National Institute of Justice.

A regional meeting on establishing registration procedures for local branch offices of the Regional Youth Co-operation Office (RYCO) was held on 14 October 2019 in Podgorica...

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 11 and 12 October, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. Between the evenings of 12 and 13 October, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and

WARSAW, 14 October 2019 – The Polish parliamentary elections were administratively prepared well, but clear media bias as well as intolerant rhetoric detracted from the otherwise competitive process, international observers concluded in a preliminary statement published today.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Lamberto Zannier visited Ukraine on 9 and 10 October 2019. Zannier discussed the integration of Ukraine’s diverse society with Education and Science Minister Hanna Novosad and Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Volodymyr Borodianskyi. He also met with

Some 100 girls from different regions of Tajikistan participated in a sports festival to mark the International Day of the Girl on 11 October 2019.

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM saw continued dismantling works at the broken section of the bridge. The SMM

VIENNA, 12 October 2019 – The 16th South Caucasus Media Conference organized by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, was held on 9 and 10 October in Tbilisi, Georgia...

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 SMM saw ongoing dismantling works at the broken section of the bridge. The SMM observed illumination flares

Eleven media professionals from different Montenegrin media outlets, as well as students from the Department of Journalism of the University of Montenegro, participated in a three-day workshop on investigative journalism from 9 to 11 October 2019. The OSCE-supported event took place in Podgorica.

From 6 to 11 October 2019, a group of twenty-one Permanent Representatives to the OSCE visited Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to reconfirm their strong support for strengthening the OSCE’s co-operation with each of the three countries.

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM saw ongoing dismantling works at the broken section of the bridge. The SMM observed a protest and

BELGRADE, 10 October 2019 – OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger concluded today a two-day visit to Serbia where he met with high-level state officials and representatives of the opposition, civil society and the media...

BRATISLAVA, 10 October 2019- The two-day 5+2 talks on the Permanent Conference on Political Issues in the Framework of the Negotiation Process on the Transdniestrian Settlement concluded today with the Sides, mediators and observers noting that work to agree on a new Bratislava Protocol will continue.

SARAJEVO, 10 October 2019 – Over 80 representatives of the security sector, law enforcement agencies, academia, the private sector and the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) gathered today in Sarajevo at the presentation of the Guidelines for a Strategic Cybersecurity Framework in BiH. This is the first document in the country that will set a framework for a comprehensive and strategic approach in responding to serious cybersecurity threats in a more systematic manner...

TBILISI, 10 October 2019 – A fully functioning democracy requires that journalists and activists are able to work without fear for their lives, nor fear of being imprisoned for their beliefs, stated President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) in remarks delivered at the 16th South Caucasus Media Conference in Tbilisi...

The OSCE Mobile Training Team delivered an interactive training course on the identification of foreign terrorist fighters at the borders for 25 first- and second-line border officers from 8 to 10 October 2019 in Batumi, Georgia.

Barriers affecting the electoral participation of women and identifying solutions to overcome them was the focus of a conference held by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 9 and 10 October 2019 in Sarajevo. The event was organized in partnership with the OSCE

Strengthening co-operation in the field of environmental and sustainable development in Central Asia was the focus of the 2019 OSCE Second Central Asian International Business Forum on 9 and 10 October 2019 in Tashkent.

WARSAW, 10 October 2019 – In line with commitments by all OSCE countries, political leaders have a responsibility to promote a discussion about abolishing the death penalty, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said on World Day against the Death Penalty.

Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The SMM saw damage to civilian properties in non-government-controlled Staromykhailivka. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM saw

GENEVA, 9 October 2019- The 49th round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) took place today.

The OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the National Police Agency of Mongolia, organized a training workshop on the advantages of intelligence-led policing (ILP) as a modern approach to contemporary law enforcement management on 9 October 2019 in Ulaanbaatar...

COPENHAGEN, 9 October 2019 – OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella met this morning at the Assembly’s International Secretariat with a delegation of the Albanian Parliament’s European Integration Committee, composed by its Chair Rudina Hajdari, Deputy Chair Senida Mesi and Member Ralf Gjoni. The delegation was accompanied by the Albanian Ambassador to Denmark, Elida Petoshati, and Sidrit Minxhozi, Head of the Parliament's International Department.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in co-operation with the Police Directorate’s Criminal Intelligence Division and the Department for Analytics and Development of the Police, organized a two-day workshop on 7 and 8 October 2019 in Podgorica...

Representatives of Tajikistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and members of Public Councils on Police Reform (PC) met to discuss community policing as a joint fight against crime. The roundtable discussion was conducted on 4 October 2019 in Guliston, the Sughd region. It was supported by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and the International Organization Saferworld. Some 110 participants, including staff of MIA and representatives of national and international organizations participated in the event.

Prosecutors from across Bosnia and Herzegovina gathered at the Annual Prosecutorial Conference on Criminal Matters which concluded on 9 October 2019. Over the course of three days, participants took part in panel discussions on; corruption and organized crime, war crimes, preventing violence against children in a digital environment, child victims of crime, gender-based violence, migration and the criminal justice system...

A two-day national seminar on strengthening rule of law-compliant criminal justice responses to terrorism concluded on 9 October 2019 in Dushanbe. The event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe in close co-operation with the Action against Terrorism Unit of the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threat Department. It brought together more than 30 representatives of law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, the bar association and NGOs that work on preventive measures against terrorism...

The role of digital technologies and tools in reducing corruption risks was the focus of a two-day high-level regional conference organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) in co-operation with the 2019 Slovak OSCE Chairmanship and the Anti-Corruption Agency of Kazakhstan on 7 and 8 October 2019 in Almaty...

Summary Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Small-arms fire was assessed as directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) south-east of Hnutove and east of Pyshchevyk. The Mission followed up on reports of a