News and press releases

An OSCE-supported training seminar on data journalism for some 15 journalists from across Kazakhstan started on 22 August 2016 in Astana...

COPENHAGEN, 21 August 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) issued the following statement in response to an apparent terrorist attack that has killed at least 50 people in Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday night...

On 20 August at 16:44, as the SMM was landing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk) it heard at least five bursts of small-arms fire (possibly AK), from a wooded area approximately 50m to the west. On hearing the gunfire, four monitors operating the UAV, who were standing between the two SMM vehicles (positioned 60m apart), immediately lay flat on the ground and crawled back to the vehicles before rapidly leaving the area (all within a two-minute period). One SMM paramedic remained in one of the vehicles during the incident. No one was injured and no damage was caused to SMM vehicles or the UAV...

The SMM observed a decrease in the number of explosions (366) recorded in Donetsk region compared with the previous day (450). In Luhansk region the SMM recorded nearly eight times fewer explosions (89) compared to the previous day (700). The SMM carried out crater analysis and observed the results of shelling on both sides of the contact line, in Myrne Stanytsia Luhanska, Styla and Horlivka. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM monitored the situation of civilians travelling across the contact line at Stanytsia Luhanska bridge and facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential infrastructure and the hand-over of a body. The Mission monitored four border areas not controlled by the Government and continued to observe a calm situation along the administrative boundary line with Crimea. The SMM faced one freedom-of-movement restriction in an area not controlled by the Government...

The SMM observed a decrease in the number of explosions (450) recorded in Donetsk region compared with the previous day. In Luhansk region the SMM observed an increase in the number of explosions (700) recorded compared with the day before. The SMM carried out crater analysis and observed the results of shelling on both sides of the contact line in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons, and observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission monitored three border areas not controlled by the Government, faced restrictions at one and was denied access to another. The SMM continued to observe a calm situation along the administrative boundary line with Crimea. The SMM faced four freedom-of-movement restrictions, three of them in areas not controlled by the Government...

An OSCE-organized five-week training course on human rights-compliant arrest and self-defensive techniques for 36 officers of Kosovo Police Rapid Reaction Teams from Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North concluded in Vushtrri/Vučitrn on 19 August 2016...

VIENNA, 19 August 2016 – An OSCE-supported training course for ten representatives of the Kyrgyz Parliament, Interior Ministry and civil society on the development of police under parliamentary democracy concluded today in Vienna...