News and press releases

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...

Some 40 national experts took part in a meeting organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and the Charter for Human Rights Public Foundation in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 13 July 2016, on implementing human rights recommendations from UN bodies...

KHUJAND, Tajikistan, 13 July 2016 – A two-day workshop for civil society and police officers on improving the local referral mechanisms for the protection of domestic violence victims concluded today in Khujand...

VIENNA, 13 July 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today said that media laws under consideration by the Parliament in Moldova run counter to international standards on media freedom...

A two-day workshop on ways to improve the recording of hate crimes was organized on 11 and 12 July in Prishtinë/Priština by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the Kosovo Police.