News and press releases

A two-day seminar on delimitation and demarcation practices in the OSCE area concluded on 16 November 2018 in Athens. The event was jointly organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece.

Representatives of the municipal administration, local institutions, civil society, education sector, youth, women as well as religious and local community leaders gathered at an OSCE roundtable in Tetovo on 19 November 2018 to discuss the implementation of the National Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Strategy and Action Plan at the local level...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed a recent impact on a road in a residential area of Debaltseve. The SMM observed military-type presence and anti-tank mines in the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, as well as at a military compound near Starohnativka and near Leonove, close to the border with the Russian Federation.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. The Mission continued to monitor the situation of civilians living near the contact line in the Vilnyi neighbourhood of Zolote-4/Rodina. In Odessa, the SMM monitored a protest against illegal construction.

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed military-type presence in the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Verkhnoshyrokivske and again near Novoazovsk, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. The SMM followed up on reports of vandalism to crosses commemorating Polish prisoners in Kolomiya during World War I. In Kyiv, the Mission followed up on an attack on St. Andrew’s Church and a ceremony in honour of political prisoners. The SMM observed the first meeting of the temporary parliamentary commission charged with investigating the death of Kateryna Handziuk. In Kherson, the SMM observed a court hearing related to the detained Mekhanik Pogodin tanker.

The key steps in joining a technologically advanced ePassport verification system- the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD) – were explored at a regional workshop organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in Budva, Montenegro on 15 and 16 November 2018...

Fifteen prosecutors and police officers completed a three-day workshop on investigating transnational cases of trafficking in human beings on 15 November 2018 in Chisinau. The workshop was organized jointly by the OSCE Mission to Moldova, the Moldovan General Prosecutor’s Office and the General Police Inspectorate, with the support of the European Union Judicial Co-operation Unit (Eurojust)...

Increasing civil society’s potential to partner with state institutions in implementing the recently adopted action plan on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Kyrgyzstan was the focus of two capacity building events, which the OSCE Office for

Young professionals from across the Western Balkans improved their knowledge about democratic institutions and OSCE commitments in the field of democratic governance during the Young Policy Adviser Course organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The course

WARSAW, 16 November 2018 – As the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) released its hate crime data for 2017 today, on the International Day for Tolerance, ODIHR Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir called on OSCE participating States to strengthen their efforts to counter hate crime...

MADRID, 15 November 2018 – Terrorism is a transnational threat that requires a concerted multilateral response at global, regional and national levels, said Greek parliamentarian Makis Voridis, Chair of the OSCE PA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism (CCT), at a conference in Madrid today. At the same time, the tragic human cost of terrorism must remain at the forefront of policy-making discussions, he said...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Novolaspa and Novoselivka Druha. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. The SMM observed two protests in Kyiv regarding heating supply in Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions.

VIENNA, 15 November 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today condemned an attempted arson attack at the home of Rai 3 investigative journalist Federico Ruffo near Rome...

The Academy under the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan welcomed some 100 representatives of state bodies to a two-day training workshop on increasing the efficiency of anti-corruption measures in state organizations on 14 November 2018 in Tashkent. The event was organized jointly with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, the General Prosecutor’s Office and NGO the Regional Dialogue.

The importance of a well-governed and accountable security sector in effectively addressing transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons and illicit drugs, corruption and terrorism, was the focus of a sub-regional expert-level workshop for senior practitioners and policy-makers from Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine in Minsk on 14 and 15 November 2018...

The three Moldovan human rights institutions – the Agency for Interethnic Relations, the Ombudsman’s Office and the Council for Preventing and Eliminating Discrimination and Ensuring Equality- signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 15 November 2018 to work together on protecting and promoting the rights of national minorities in the country. The ceremony took place on the premises of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, which facilitated the development of the document.

An OSCE-organized workshop for 20 representatives of civil society on the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative took place on 15 November in Almaty, Kazakhstan...

The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek supported a round-table discussion, on 14 November 2018 in Bishkek, where Kyrgyzstan’s draft Unified Register of Functions of Ministries and State Agencies was brought for discussion to the public. The register is meant to systematize functions and bringing them into one coherent list...

On 12 November 2018, the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe started a new project “Patrol Field Capacity Building of the Tajik Border Troops through promotion of Regional Co-operation”. The project is supported by the Federal Republic of Germany and was launched in the Regional Training Centre of Khalkayor, some 230km south of Dushanbe.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared to the previous reporting period. It observed for the first time anti-tank mines inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas. It observed weapons in violation near Volnovakha. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple and the clearance of unexploded ordnance near Marinka...

A toolkit developed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to assist participating States in adopting a comprehensive approach to countering hate crime was presented to government officials and civil society representatives at a conference organized by ODIHR in

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry inaugurated a second model police station in Tajikistan at a ceremony in the Esanboy community of the Rudaki district on 9 November 2018. The station will serve as a community policing centre where local community members can meet and discuss legal and strategic documents on police reform, and provide their recommendations to the Interior Ministry on improving community policing...

From 6 to 9 November, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Gender, Melanne Verveer and OSCE Senior Adviser on Gender Issues, Amarsanaa Darisuren conducted a country visit to Uzbekistan. The visit was organized by the Italian OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office.

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department’s Strategic Police Matters Unit presented the Arabic translation of the OSCE Guidebook on Intelligence-Led Policing at a launch event organized jointly with the League of Arab States at the League’s headquarters in Cairo on 14 November 2018...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared to the previous 24 hours. The Mission followed up on reports of a civilian casualty in Marinka. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Bezimenne and Zaichenko. The SMM observed weapons in violation near Shymshynivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. The SMM observed two protests in Kyiv and a gathering commemorating the founding of Karpatska Sich in Ivano Frankivsk...

The security needs of Jewish communities were at the centre of discussion at a regional conference co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Skopje on 12 and 13 November 2018. The conference, organized in co-operation with the Ministry of Foreign

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

VIENNA, 13 November 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania expressing concern about an investigative journalism organization being requested to reveal its confidential sources, and asking for this request to be withdrawn...

YEREVAN, 13 November 2018 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened an election observation mission for the 9 December early parliamentary elections in Armenia. The mission’s deployment follows an official invitation from the country’s authorities...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region between the evenings of 9 and 10 November, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 10 and 11 November, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous 24 hours. Two SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicles came under small-arms fire in Kadiivka and Novotoshkivske. In non-government-controlled areas, the SMM monitored the security situation on the day of reported “elections” announced for 11 November. An SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle spotted fresh mortar impacts at the Bakhmut Agrarian Union’s pig farm near Novoluhanske. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as in three separate areas near the border with the Russian Federation, including Novoazovsk. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple...

ROME, 12 November 2018 – Greater transparency is needed to achieve comprehensive security in the OSCE area, OSCE PA President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) said in a speech today in Rome. He noted that parliamentarians are essential partners in the fight against corruption...

COPENHAGEN, 12 November 2018 – In response to the holding of “elections” in the so-called “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine over the weekend, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (Georgia) issued the following statement:

VIENNA, 12 November 2018 – In Vienna today, Makis Voridis, Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism, addressed the Security Committee of the OSCE and is holding a series of bilateral meetings to build synergy between the OSCE’s executive and parliamentary structures on preventing and countering terrorism.

The Mission saw buildings with signs that read “polling stations”. It noted a slight increase in the presence of armed formations in some areas of non-government controlled Donetsk city centre. Some civilians expressed concern to the SMM about “voting”...

Vienna, 11 November 2018. Today, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir, called on all authorities to drop the request to the editor of the Times of Malta to disclose a source of information used in a report on a planned takeover of a building project, after the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) made such request to the daily newspaper.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission’s long-range unmanned aerial vehicle experienced severe jamming near Korsun. It followed up on reports of shelling at the Bakhmut Agrarian Union’s pig farm near Novoluhanske. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Bila Hora and Zhelanne. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, as well as at two border crossing points not under government control. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. In Odessa, the SMM observed graffiti on two monuments associated with the 1905 mutiny on the battleship Potemkin.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. It corroborated a civilian fatality in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka as a result of shrapnel injuries. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Novoselivka and Yasnodolsk. The SMM observed an anti-aircraft-gun inside the Zolote disengagement area and recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas. The SMM observed anti-tank mines for the first time near Orikhove. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. In Kyiv, the SMM observed a public gathering related to an import tax on vehicles. In Kherson, the SMM followed up on the situation of the detained Mekhanik Pogodin tanker.

THE HAGUE, 9 November 2018 – “We will continue to support not only the students of Jajce, but also any other student who wants changes that will lead to a better future,” said Azra Keljalić, a student and President of the Student Council of Jajce Vocational School, as she accepted the 2018 Max van der Stoel Award on behalf of high school students from Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, at a ceremony in The Hague today...

TIRANA, 9 November 2018 – A two-day connectivity meeting on innovation and youth entrepreneurship hosted by the OSCE Secretariat focusing on “Building the skills needed for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” concludes today in Tirana. The meeting is part of The Young Developers and Entrepreneurs to Advance Start-ups (YDEAS) project in the Western Balkans, and is supported by the Italian 2018 OSCE Chairmanship, the Central European Initiative and the Principality of Liechtenstein...

The last in an annual series of five OSCE-supported training seminars on human rights protection mechanisms concluded in the Akmola Region, Kazakhstan, on 9 November 2018...

Women’s contribution to the sustainable development of rural areas in Kazakhstan was the focus of the First Rural Women’s Forum which concluded on 9 November 2018 in Astana...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM recorded a ceasefire violation and observed new trenches, military and military-type presence inside the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas; it was also restricted near Novoazovsk – close to the border with the Russian Federation – as well as near Kozatske, Orikhove and in Khrustalnyi.* The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to power lines near Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored two public gatherings. In Kherson, the Mission monitored a mourning service for the deceased activist Kateryna Handziuk...

Capacity-building training courses for 15 potential Regional Youth Co-operation Office (RYCO) applicants, held in the spirit of reconciliation among the youth in the region, were organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and RYCO, from 4 to 7 November 2018 in Podgorica...

ROME, 8 November 2018- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Italy’s Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi today reiterated OSCE support to the implementation of the Minsk agreements for a peaceful solution to the crisis in and around Ukraine, in line with OSCE principles and commitments and in full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine...

ASTANA, 8 November 2018 – The 20th Central Asia Media Conference for media representatives and experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, organized by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, concludes today in Astana...

WASHINGTON D.C., 7 November 2018 – The 6 November mid-term elections in the United States were highly competitive and contestants could campaign freely, with media presenting a wide array of information and views, enabling voters to make an informed choice. However, campaign rhetoric was often intensely negative and at times intolerant, including on social networks, the international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) concluded in a statement released today...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. It observed recent damage to civilian properties caused by shelling in residential areas of Staromykhailivka. The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations near the Petrivske disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas; it was also restricted near Novoazovsk- close to the border with the Russian Federation – as well as near Oleksandrivske, Bezimenne, Zaichenko and Troitske.* The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the Petrivske water pumping station near Artema, power lines near Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. In Kyiv, the SMM followed up on media reports of searches at apartments and offices of two activists...

MINSK, 6 November 2018 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its Working Groups in Minsk on 6 November 2018:

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. It observed damage caused by gunfire in a residential area of Dokuchaievsk. The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations near the Petrivske and Zolote disengagement areas and military presence inside the Petrivske disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas; it was also restricted near Novoazovsk and Dovzhanske – close to the border with the Russian Federation – and near Zaichenko, Bezimenne and Naberezhne.* The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to power lines near Vesela Hora and to damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. In Odessa, the SMM followed up on reports of vandalism to a monument. In Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad region, the SMM followed up on reports of a grenade attack against a social activist.

New approaches and practical tools to prevent corruption at the local level were the focus of a two-day expert seminar organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (OECD/ACN) in Vienna on 5 and 6 November 2018, which gathered over 70 experts and practitioners from some 30 OSCE participating States...

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKIY, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons slightly increased at both BCPs compared to the previous week...