News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Progress on ‘package of eight’ will advance Transdniestrian settlement process and improve people’s lives, says OSCE Special Representative
Publishing date: 24 March 2017
CHISINAU, 24 March 2017 – The Special Representative of the Austrian OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process, Wolf Dietrich Heim, today concluded a visit to the region where he met political representatives of the sides in Chisinau and Tiraspol...
Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 23 March 2017
Publishing date: 24 March 2017
The security situation deteriorated along the contact line. The SMM recorded a sharp increase in the number of ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Yasynuvata and Donetsk city and observed damage to civilian houses and other infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted...
OSCE PA’s Harstedt urges restraint and responsibility by authorities and demonstrators in Belarus
Publishing date: 24 March 2017
COPENHAGEN, 24 March 2017 – Kent Harstedt (MP, Sweden), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, today expressed concerns regarding an increasingly hazardous atmosphere pertaining to demonstrations that have taken place in recent weeks and other gatherings that are reportedly planned to be held tomorrow...
OSCE PA’s Sanchez Amor and Bekkevold to lead election observers in Armenia
Publishing date: 24 March 2017
COPENHAGEN, 24 March 2017 – OSCE parliamentarians will observe the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia and provide leadership for the OSCE’s short-term observer mission...
Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 22 March 2017
Publishing date: 23 March 2017
The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. It corroborated a report of a civilian casualty in Yasynuvata. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The SMM noted long queues at entry-exit checkpoints in Stanytsia Luhanska, Olenivka, Berezove and Novotroitske. It monitored a border area currently not controlled by the Government. The Mission continued to monitor the blockade of railway routes across the contact line. The SMM monitored protests outside banks in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, and followed up reports of vandalism against a bank in Ternopil...
Women’s perspectives on security policy debated at OSCE PA conference in Vienna
Publishing date: 23 March 2017
VIENNA, 23 March 2017 – Improving the level of engagement of women in discussions on security, including conflict resolution and addressing violent extremism, was in focus today at a day-long conference hosted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly at the Austrian Parliament in Vienna...
Good practices in managing postponement of removal or voluntary return of irregular migrants focus of OSCE/ODIHR event in Riga
Publishing date: 23 March 2017
Good practices for managing situations where the removal or voluntary return of irregular migrants has been postponed, as well as ensuring the rights of such persons, were discussed at the conference co-hosted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Riga on 22 and