News and press releases

KYIV, 17 July 2016 – The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, today on the second anniversary of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 tragedy, said that disaster once again reminds all of us of the heavy toll that civilians pay in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, and in all armed conflicts...

VIENNA, 16 July 2016 – OSCE media freedom representative Dunja Mijatović today said she was deeply saddened upon learning of the death of photojournalist Mustafa Cambaz in Turkey, and worried about the state of media freedom in the country...

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded a slightly higher number of ceasefire violations including nearly 400 explosions, compared to the previous reporting period, with violence focused in the Avdiivka/Yasynuvata area, and Shyrokyne. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded a high number of ceasefire violations compared to none during the previous reporting period, noting a sharp increase of violence, including over 550 explosions on the night of 14 July in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM followed up on reports of shelling and conducted crater analysis in Marinka, Maiorsk, Petrovskyi district of Donetsk city and in Stanytsia Luhanska. It followed up on reports about civilian casualties in Staromykhailivka and Zaitseve. Armed “LPR” members repeatedly denied the SMM access to Stanytsia Luhanska bridge...*

Berlin/Vienna, 16 July 2016 –Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier both expressed deep concern after the attempted military coup in Turkey.

COPENHAGEN, 16 July 2016 – In response to Friday night's attempted coup in Turkey, OSCE PA President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) today issued the following statement...

DUSHANBE, 15 July 2016 – Combating the illicit trade in cultural property and the smuggling of historical artifacts was the focus of a week-long workshop organized by the OSCE for representatives of Tajik Border Troops, Customs Service, State Committee of National Security, the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Internal Affairs, in Dushanbe from 11 to 15 July 2016...

DUSHANBE, 15 July 2016 – Twenty-four mid-rank officers from the Tajik Border Troops, the State Committee on National Security and Tajikistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs today completed a week-long OSCE workshop in Dushanbe on verifying the authenticity of security documents...