News and press releases

The OSCE Mission to Moldova held a two-day practical workshop aimed at enhancing the co-ordination of the country’s anti-trafficking activities at the national and local levels on 11 and 12 May 2017. The event, held in Alba Iulia, Romania, brought together 15 representatives of state institutions, civil society and international organizations, and was organized in co-operation with Moldova’s National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings...

Good practices in the integration of migrants were exchanged and discussed at an international conference co-hosted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Chisinau on 17 and 18 May 2017. The event, held in co-operation with Moldova’s Interior Ministry, brought

On 17 May an SMM patrol consisting of five members in two armoured vehicles was in the north-eastern outskirts of “DPR”-controlled Dokuchaievsk (30km south-west of Donetsk) heading west behind a green military-type truck (KamAZ-4350) with plate number DK-1823. The SMM patrol saw six men wearing military-style clothes on board the truck in the back of the cargo compartment...

The office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities held a kick-off meeting to launch a long-term project to support the implementation of Georgia’s State Strategy for Civic Equality and Integration in Tbilisi on 16 May 2017...

Copenhagen, 17 May 2017 – OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Madina Jarbussynova, concluded on Wednesday a three-day official visit to Denmark to discuss the country’s implementation of OSCE anti-trafficking commitments.

The SMM’s operations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions remained restricted following the fatal incident of 23 April near Pryshyb; these restrictions continued to limit the Mission’s observations. The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. Near Verkhnoshyrokivske the SMM heard a shot of small-arms fire nearby. The SMM continued to follow up on a report of a civilian casualty in Chermalyk and observed damage to civilian property due to shelling in Sakhanka. It continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; the Mission’s access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons and observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. It continued to monitor the situation of civilians travelling across the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. The Mission visited a border area currently not under government control. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored three peaceful gatherings...

The first OSCE-supported forum on Kazakhstan’s National Preventive Mechanism against Torture (NPM), focused on national and international experience in this field, concluded on 17 May 2017 in Astana.