News and press releases

In Donetsk region, the SMM observed a high level of violence, with more than 600 explosions recorded. In particular, the SMM noted a considerable increase of violence in the Yasynuvata area, with some 450 explosions recorded. In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded ceasefire violations in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska on the night of 25 April. SMM noted a number of weapons missing from permanent storage sites and holding areas. It observed long queues at checkpoints along the contact line. Its freedom of movement was restricted on two occasions, in areas not controlled by the Government.* The SMM followed up on an explosion at a bank in Odessa...

BERLIN, 27 April 2016- A spokesperson of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, holder of the 2016 OSCE Chairmanship, issued the following statement in Berlin today in response to reports on alleged plans for an armed OSCE mission to eastern Ukraine...

BISHKEK, 27 April 2016 – The OSCE Centre in Bishkek in co-operation with the Human Rights Advocacy Centre and the Kyrgyz State Law Academy concluded a two-day training course for nine competitively-selected law students from different regions of Kyrgyzstan to enhance their abilities to observe and assess current gaps in the administration of justice...

A decision Tuesday by the top court in Russian-occupied Crimea to ban the Crimean Tatars’ governing body indicates a new level of stigmatization of the Tatar community and should be reversed, said OSCE Parliamentary Assembly human rights chair Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal) today...

TESLIC, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), 27 April 2016 – The consistent application of the double jeopardy principle in war crimes processing is crucial to preventing serious infringements of the constitutional principles of legal certainty and equality before the law, concluded BiH judges and prosecutors at an OSCE-organized peer-to-peer meeting today in Teslic...

BERLIN, 27 April 2016 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier today expressed concern following the recent increase in ceasefire violations in Eastern Ukraine and the growing number of incidents involving OSCE monitors...

KYZYLORDA, Kazakhstan, 27 April 2016 – Proper procedures in handling hazardous chemicals and obsolete pesticides was the focus of the first of two OSCE-supported awareness-raising training seminars for some 50 representatives of local government authorities, the private sector, academia and environmental NGOs, which began today in Kyzylorda...