News and press releases

Some 350 newly-elected councillors from local self-government units received certificates marking their successful completion of an online course on the system of local self-governments and good governance, at a ceremony held on 14 December 2016 in Belgrade. The course, supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, is designed for councillors who took up seats in local assemblies for the first time after the April elections...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro in co-operation with the Ministry of Interior and Union of Municipalities awarded local municipalities on 12 December 2016 for their work in various areas, recognizing the quality of their work and innovation in providing services to citizens...

TASHKENT, 15 December 2016 – An OSCE-supported national contest of the best artistic works that highlight anti-corruption concluded today in Tashkent in a ceremony dedicated to last week’s International Anti-Corruption Day...

ASHGABAT, 15 December 2016 – Some 15 law-enforcement officials and energy experts from Turkmenistan discussed best practices in the area of critical energy infrastructure protection at an OSCE-organized seminar that concluded in Ashgabat today...

KYIV, 15 December 2016 – The results of Ukraine’s first-ever national money-laundering and financing of terrorism risk assessment, conducted with the support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, were presented today to the country’s expert community at an event in Kyiv...

SARAJEVO, 15 December 2016- A group of 16 advanced law students from the Universities of Sarajevo and Banja Luka completed today the sixth and final session of the OSCE’s first Extracurricular Workshop on International Criminal Law and Transitional Justice. The workshop prepared the future legal practitioners to enable them to enter the judiciary better equipped to tackle the issues that arise in war crimes cases...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties near Maiorsk. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM was restricted in its movement in the three disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and observed ceasefire violations in or around two of them. The SMM facilitated repair works on essential infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, in Orikhove, Zolote and Krasnyi Lyman. Long queues at entry-exit checkpoints along the contact line continued. The Mission monitored three border crossing points, two located in areas currently not under government control. A protest in Kyiv took place peacefully...