News and press releases

TASHKENT, 12 July 2016 – A three-day seminar for journalists to improve their skills in reporting on human trafficking, organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and the Office of the Prosecutor General, began yesterday...

Vienna, 11 July 2016 – Today, energy experts from the OSCE Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation, representing both government institutions and private sector companies, will begin a week-long field study of sustainable energy in Austria and Germany. During their trip, participants will visit leading renewable energy companies, renewable energy sites and discuss the challenges of the energy transition with government representatives and business associations.

The SMM recorded a similarly high number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region on 9 July compared to 8 July and fewer ceasefire violations on 10 July, respectively compared to 9 July, with violence focusing around Donetsk city and the Avdiivka/Yasynuvata area. In Luhansk region the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations on both 9 and 10 July, respectively compared to 8 July, noting a sharp increase of violence on the night of 9 July in Stanytsia Luhanska. It followed up on reports of shelling and conducted crater analysis in Marinka, Lebedynske, Sakhanka, Stanytsia Luhanska, and Horlivka. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable the transfer of the body of a deceased person near Shchastia. Armed “LPR” members repeatedly denied the SMM access to Stanytsia Luhanska bridge...

The SMM recorded a higher number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared to the previous day, with violence focusing around Donetsk city, Yasynuvata and Svitlodarsk. In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded two ceasefire violations in one location. It followed up on reports of shelling in Novooleksandrivka, Kalynove and Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons, observing weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines and the presence of armoured combat vehicles and anti-aircraft weapons in the security zone, including in residential areas. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential infrastructure in Pryshyb, Shchastia, and Krasnyi Lyman. It monitored also the situation of internally displaced persons in Odessa.

WARSAW, 9 July 2016 Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today welcomed the decision by the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan to reconsider the case of human rights defender Azimjan Askarov, and again called on the Kyrgyz authorities to heed a decision of the UN Human Rights Committee calling for Askarov’s release...

VIENNA, 8 July 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović, today expressed concern about a proposed law on the German Foreign Intelligence Agency (BND, Bundesnachrichtendienst), which was debated in the Bundestag, Germany’s Federal Parliament, today...

ISSYK-KUL, Kyrgyzstan, 8 July 2016 – A five-day training course supported by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek on a risk-oriented approach in supervising activities related to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism concluded today in Bosteri village, in the Issyk-Kul region...