News and press releases

The positive role religious figures and institutions can play in conflict prevention and peace building was the theme of an expert workshop co-hosted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) in Vienna on 3 and 4 April 2017.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24-hour period, but fewer compared with the period before the recommitment to the ceasefire. The Mission followed up on a report of a civilian casualty in Marinka. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines. The SMM followed up on reports of vandalism against bank branches in Odessa...

COPENHAGEN, 3 April 2017 – Following an attack in St. Petersburg today that is being investigated by the Russian authorities as an act of terrorism, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s President, Austrian parliamentarian Christine Muttonen, offered condolences and strongly condemned the violence...

VIENNA, 3 April 2017- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier today condemned the atrocious blasts in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, offering condolences to the families of those killed and wishing a rapid recovery to the many injured...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions since a renewed commitment to the ceasefire came into force on 1 April. In Donetsk region the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations but more explosions – the vast majority of them were recorded before midnight on 31 March – between the evenings of 31 March and 1 April compared with the previous reporting period, and fewer ceasefire violations between the evenings of 1 and 2 April compared with the previous 24-hour period...

ASHGABAT, 3 April 2017 – The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Turkmenistan, supported by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, organized today in Ashgabat the fifth meeting of the Regional Infrastructure Confidence-building Measures (RI-CBM) technical groups within the framework of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan...

The OSCE Programme Office in Astana supported a training seminar on presiding over cases of domestic violence for judges in the framework of the judges’ annual retraining courses in Astana on 3 April 2017...