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News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Trilateral Contact Group statement on ceasefire as of 1 September, 2016
Publishing date: 1 September 2016
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Chairmanship
What we do: Conflict prevention and resolution
MINSK, 1 September 2016- A Trilateral Contact Group meeting by video-conference took place in Kyiv today 01 September 2016 with the purpose to confirm the ceasefire announced and observed from 00.00, 01 September. Video-conference was also attended by SMM Chief Monitor Ambassador Apakan as well as RF and Ukrainian representatives in JCCC – Generals Medvedskiy and Kremenetskiy accordingly...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30, 31 August 2016
Publishing date: 1 September 2016
Content type: Daily report
Where we are: OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (closed)
What we do: Conflict prevention and resolution
The SMM recorded substantially fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region (95 explosions compared with 520 on 30 August) but a much higher number of violations in Luhansk region (155 explosions compared with ten on 30 August). The SMM evacuated its forward patrol base in Shchastia during the night of 30 August due to mortar rounds assessed as landing close to its base; the SMM returned to the base during the day of 31 August. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties and observed numerous cases of damage to civilian property when conducting shelling assessments in Krasnohorivka, Horlivka, Lobacheve, Raivka, Irmino, and Novooleksandrivka. The SMM continued to observe heavy weapons missing from storage locations in government- and non-government-controlled areas. The SMM also monitored the results of shelling on and military personnel in proximity of schools. The SMM continued to monitor a calm situation along the administrative boundary line between the Ukrainian mainland and Crimea...
Informal OSCE Ministerial discussions focused on organization's future agenda
Publishing date: 1 September 2016
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Chairmanship
What we do: Conflict prevention and resolution
POTSDAM, Germany, 1 September 2016 – “It is my firm belief that we must work together to face the common threats of our times and to make use of the OSCE more effectively as a central platform for dialogue,” said OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the end of the Informal Meeting of OSCE Foreign Ministers in Potsdam today. “At a time when we are facing grave differences of opinion and a loss of trust in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian area, we as political leaders have a duty to listen to each other and to re-engage in genuine dialogue,” Steinmeier added...
Governments should utilize OSCE’s full toolbox, says PA President Muttonen at informal ministerial meeting in Potsdam
Publishing date: 1 September 2016
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
What we do: Human rights, Conflict prevention and resolution, Rule of law
POTSDAM, 1 September 2016 – Speaking today at an informal meeting of OSCE Foreign Ministers in Potsdam, Germany, Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) urged intensified efforts at diplomacy and confidence-building, stressing that governments should make full use of the OSCE’s instruments to address common challenges...
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Steinmeier welcomes agreement on early elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Publishing date: 1 September 2016
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Chairmanship
What we do: Conflict prevention and resolution
BERLIN, 1 September 2016- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, welcomed the agreement on early parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and issued the following statement today in Berlin:...
Local authorities in Hungary’s Miskolc should stop evictions, provide for durable housing solutions for Roma in line with international human rights standards, says ODIHR report
Publishing date: 1 September 2016
Content type: News
Where we are: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
What we do: Roma and Sinti
Local government authorities in the town of Miskolc, Hungary, should halt issuing eviction orders to Roma residents of social housing, and should promote adequate, sustainable, non-discriminatory solutions to housing segregation, says a field assessment visit report published by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 1 September 2016.
OSCE Chief Monitor in Ukraine urges sides to heed ceasefire appeal at school year’s start
Publishing date: 1 September 2016
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (closed)
What we do: Conflict prevention and resolution
KYIV, 1 September 2016 – All sides should heed the ceasefire appeal ahead of the start of the new school year, the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Ertugrul Apakan said today...