News and press releases

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations compared to the previous reporting period, with violence focused around Donetsk city, Yasynuvata, and Shyrokyne. In Luhansk region for the fourth consecutive day, the SMM continued to record a high number of overnight ceasefire violations in government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM followed up on reports of shelling and conducted crater analysis in Petrovskyi district of Donetsk city, in Kamianka and in Stanytsia Luhanska. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential infrastructure in Slovianoserbsk, Pryshyb and Krasnyi Lyman. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM noted long queues at entry-exit checkpoints along the contact line. Its freedom of movement was restricted on three occasions, including at a border crossing point, all in areas outside government control. The SMM followed up on reports of smuggling of grenades and explosives in Kharkiv region’s border area. In Odessa it observed three Polish citizens blocked inside a hotel by self-defence activists...

BAD REICHENHALL, Germany, 14 July 2016 – A two-day conference on confidence-building measures in the Transdniestrian settlement process was held in the town of Bad Reichenhall in Germany on 12 and 13 July 2016. As in past years, the conference, which traditionally takes place in the German state of Bavaria, brought together political representatives of the sides and international 5+2 partners in an informal setting to address the challenges at hand and advance confidence-building measures that would strengthen the process...

Twenty-five lecturers from law faculties at fifteen universities from around Ukraine, during a roundtable discussion supported by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator on 13 July 2016 in Kyiv, developed recommendations on teaching human rights within Master of Law university programmes...

VIENNA, 14 July 2016 – In his first address to the OSCE Permanent Council as incoming OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz said that the fight against radicalization will be the main priority of Austria’s 2017 OSCE chairmanship...

ASTANA, 14 July 2016 – The introduction of the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) in Kazakhstan was the focus of a roundtable discussion organized in Astana today by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in partnership with the Energy Ministry’s Information and Analytical Centre of Environment Protection and the UN Development Programme in Kazakhstan...

VIENNA, 13 July 2016 –The importance of international fora and mechanisms in addressing the consequences of the 2008 conflict in Georgia and in increasing stability and transparency in the region was highlighted at the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation’s meeting today...

In Donetsk region the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations compared to the previous reporting period. Most of the fighting was recorded in the areas around Donetsk city, Yasynuvata, Horlivka and Shyrokyne. In Luhansk region for the third consecutive day, the SMM continued to record a relatively high number of overnight ceasefire violations in government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska, including 237 explosions. The SMM followed up on reports of shelling and conducted crater analysis on both sides of the contact line, in Sakhanka, Zaichenko and Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential infrastructure in Slovianoserbsk, Pryshyb and Shchastia. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons and the situation of civilians at entry-exit checkpoints along the contact line. The Mission monitored a border area not controlled by the Government and encountered a restriction of its freedom of movement there; overall, the Mission’s freedom of movement was restricted on five occasions, four of which were in areas not controlled by the Government...