News and press releases

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKIY, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons increased at both BCPs compared to the previous week.

COPENHAGEN, 27 March 2018 – In response to the police shooting of unarmed 22-year-old Stephon Clark on 18 March in Sacramento, California, the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, Ignacio Sanchez Amor (MP, Spain), called for greater accountability and policing reform in the United States...

KYIV, 27 March 2018- Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine Ertugrul Apakan today welcomed the renewed commitment to the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number in Luhansk region between the evenings of 23 and 24 March, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 24 and 25 March, the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous 24 hours and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded an explosion inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and seven projectiles in flight inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including, again, near Izvaryne, an area close to the border with the Russian Federation, and at a checkpoint near Kreminets.* The SMM observed demining activities near Sartana. The Mission continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM followed up on reports of water shortages in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region...

The OSCE Gender Section organized a workshop in Yerevan on 22 and 23 March 2018 to support Armenia’s ongoing process of drafting a national action plan to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security...

MINSK, 26 March 2018 – The Trilateral Contact Group today issued the following statement:...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. Small arms were fired near an SMM patrol in Pikuzy. The Mission observed damage to civilian properties caused by shelling in Sakhanka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske and observed an explosion near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including, again, in border areas near Izvaryne, Sievernyi and Voznesenivka (near the border with the Russian Federation), and at a checkpoint near Donetsk city. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Poltavka. The Mission continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a court hearing. In Kharkiv, the Mission followed up on the situation of internally displaced persons...

ROME / VIENNA, 23 March 2018 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Italy’s Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano and OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger condemned today’s terrorist attacks in Carcassonne and Trèbes, France. They offered their heartfelt condolences to the families of victims and wished swift recovery to those wounded...

A team of experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights were in Skopje from 19 to 23 March for a consultation and planning visit as part of the ODIHR project Support to Elections in the Western Balkans. In-depth consultations were held with key stakeholders regarding

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including again at a checkpoint near Kreminets and at a heavy weapons holding area.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line, including in residential areas. The SMM continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station. The Mission monitored a gathering in Kyiv related to the lifting of immunity of a Member of Parliament and in Lviv it monitored a gathering outside the City Council building.

A specialized training course on use of the Electronic Disclosure Suite (EDS), an electronic database for accessing evidence gathered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) concluded on 23 March 2018 in Sarajevo. Two two-day training events held in Banja Luka and Sarajevo, gathered some 50 legal associates and investigators from prosecutor’s offices and police investigators who work on war crimes cases from across Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)...

WARSAW, 23 March 2018 – Wrapping up a two-day visit to Warsaw, where meetings have taken place with colleagues from the Polish Parliament and from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) said today that solving common problems requires greater international co-operation.

Enhancing the knowledge and skills of law enforcement officials from South-Eastern Europe in investigating malicious software (in short malware) was the focus of a OSCE-hosted one-week training course, which concluded on 23 March in Tirana.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the Association of Women in the Kosovo Police organized a three-day train-the-trainer course on trafficking in human beings (THB) for senior female police officers. The course, attended by 25 officers, including lieutenants and sergeants operating in the Directorate for Investigation of THB and other units within the Kosovo Police, was held from 21 to 23 March 2018 in Ohrid, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia...

VIENNA, 23 March – Today OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir wrote to the Slovak authorities to express concern about a recently passed verdict on the case of journalist Lukáš Milan...

VIENNA, 22 March 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today expressed his concern over recent death threats against journalists of the portal Insajderi...

VIENNA, 22 March 2018 – “Today, the Internet is the main platform where pluralistic discussions can still take place in Turkey. Further restricting access to the Internet will critically weaken access to information and online expression,” OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir said today...

KYIV, 22 March 2018 – The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), Ertugrul Apakan, welcomed today the extension of the SMM’s mandate for another year, stressing that the consensus decision of the OSCE’s 57 participating States constitutes both a continued commitment to the people of Ukraine and an endorsement of the Mission...

VIENNA, 22 March 2018 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today welcomed the release of Uzbek journalist Gayrat Mikhliboev...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed damage near residential areas as a result of shelling in Sakhanka and Dovhe. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Izvaryne at a border crossing point near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to a pumping station near Artema, power lines near Svitlodarsk and continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM visited a border area outside of government control.*...

In preparation for the Third UN Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), which will take place in June 2018, the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre, jointly with Germany and France, organized a side event on 20 March 2018 in New York to present the recently adopted OSCE Best Practice Guide on Deactivation of SALW to the UN Member States and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations...

International standards guaranteeing the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and key principles and good practices for policing assemblies in a human rights-compliant way were the focus of an event organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 21 March 2018 in Kyiv. The event marked the launch of the Ukrainian-language version of ODIHR’s Human Rights Handbook on Policing Assemblies.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed damage near residential areas as a result of shelling in Sakhanka and Dovhe. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Izvaryne at a border crossing point near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to a pumping station near Artema, power lines near Svitlodarsk and continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM visited a border area outside of government control.*...

STRASBOURG / WARSAW / VIENNA, 21 March 2018. Promoting equality and combating racism are essential to fortify social cohesion and democratic security, the heads of three European human rights institutions said in a joint statement on today’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination...

BERLIN, 21 March 2018 – Germany’s strong support for the OSCE is evident in the high level of commitment seen in its ongoing organization of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 27th Annual Session to be held this summer in Berlin, PA President George Tsereteli said today...

On the occasion of World Social Work Day, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) supported the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Sarajevo and the Association of Social Workers of the Federation of Bosnia in organizing the conference “Social Work in Education”, which concluded on 20 March 2018 in Sarajevo...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous 24 hours and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The SMM followed up on reports of a civilian casualty in Pikuzy. It observed damage to civilian properties in residential areas of Sakhanka caused by shelling. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including at checkpoints near Olenivka and Staromykhailivka.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Lomakyne. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to a pumping station near Artema and continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM monitored a peaceful gathering in Odessa....

VIENNA, 20 March 2018 – “The decision of the European Court of Human Rights shows clearly that the rights to liberty and security, as well as to freedom of expression of two Turkish journalists, Şahin Alpay and Mehmet Altan, have been violated,” the OSCE media freedom representative Harlem Désir said in a reaction on the Strasbourg court ruling...

THE HAGUE, 20 March 2018 – OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Lamberto Zannier today launched a call for nominations for the 2018 Max van der Stoel Award. The award of 50,000 euros recognizes extraordinary and outstanding achievements in improving the position of national minorities in OSCE participating States. The deadline for nominations is 1 May 2018...

CHISINAU, 20 March 2018- The OSCE Mission to Moldova will hand over four sets of technical equipment to the Military Observers of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces on behalf of the Republic of Moldova, of the Transdniestrian region, Russian Federation and Ukraine at the meeting of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) on Thursday, 22 March. The equipment, consisting of notebooks, colour printers, GPS tracking devices and photo cameras, was purchased at the request of the JCC to improve information exchange between the Military Observers and the JCC about the situation in the Security Zone...

The SMM monitored the security situation at several locations associated with the Russian Federation presidential election; it observed police presence at these locations and people not being allowed to access some of them by police. The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region between the evenings of 16 and 17 March, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 17 and 18 March, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous 24 hours and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Leonove, Mykolaivka and Staromykhailivka.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Bakhmut, Novopavlivka, and Yablunivka. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs of high-voltage power lines near Almazna and continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM monitored protests in several regions of Ukraine, and followed up on reports of car windows being damaged in Berehove, Zakarpattia region...

VIENNA, 19 March 2018- Energy security, the protection of critical energy infrastructure, the development and integration of renewable energy and the best use of digitalization for energy security were the focus of the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group meeting held today in Vienna...

MOSCOW, 19 March 2018 – The 18 March presidential election in Russia took place in an overly controlled environment, marked by continued pressure on critical voices, while the Central Election Commission (CEC) administered the process efficiently and openly, the international observers concluded in a statement today. After intense efforts to promote turnout, citizens voted in significant numbers, yet restrictions on the fundamental freedoms, as well as on candidate registration, have limited the space for political engagement and resulted in a lack of genuine competition, the statement says...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded two ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Petrivske disengagement areas. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Izvaryne, at a border crossing point in Luhansk region near the border with the Russian Federation, in Amvrosiivka, Verkhnoshyrokivske and a heavy weapons holding area in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region.*

New York, 17 March 2018 – During his visit to New York OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir met with high-level United Nations officials and a broad range of civil society organizations to discuss ways of joining forces in promoting media freedom and protection of journalists.

NEW YORK, 16 March 2018 – “Continuing the detention of Cumhuriyet CEO Akın Atalay, in a trial that has failed to produce proof of wrongdoing by the defendant, is unacceptable and deeply worrying,” OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir said today, hours after the seventh hearing concluded in the Cumhuriyet trial in Silivri, outside of Istanbul.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it heard ceasefire violations assessed as inside the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Izvaryne and Sievernyi (border crossing points in Luhansk region near the border with the Russian Federation) and in Verkhnoshyrokivske.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Hnutove and Bakhmut. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the Petrivske water pumping station in Artema and again facilitated access for workers to the Donetsk Filtration Station. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a march related to court proceedings regarding events at Maidan in early 2014. In Kharkiv, the Mission monitored a gathering on the fourth anniversary of 2014 events...

BIHAC, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 16 March 2018 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in co-operation with the Partnership for Peace Consortium’s Counterterrorism Working Group, concluded a two-day tabletop exercise in Bihac today, focusing on practical views and ideas in addressing the challenges of violent extremism...

COPENHAGEN, 15 March 2018 – In response to the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the United Kingdom on 4 March, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) today issued the following statement:...

The Women Entrepreneurs Forum, an OSCE-supported platform for promoting female entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women living in rural areas, concluded on 16 March 2018 in Atyrau, Kazakhstan.

A two-day OSCE-supported training seminar for participants of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) for Preventing Torture and Ill-treatment concluded on 16 March 2018 in Astana...

VIENNA, 16 March 2018- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office’s Special Representative for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process Franco Frattini will travel to the Republic of Moldova from 26 to 28 March 2018 in his first visit to the country in this capacity. He will hold talks with top-level Moldovan officials and leadership in Tiraspol, including both Chief Negotiators. He will also meet with resident ambassadors of the “5+2” negotiation format. The appointment of Frattini – a former Italian Foreign Minister and Vice-President of the European Commission – underlines the importance the Italian OSCE Chairmanship attaches to advancing the settlement process...

The Second Congress of Civil Initiatives against Corruption, supported by the OSCE, took place on 14 March 2018 in Astana...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. It observed shelling impacts in rural residential areas near Novolaspa and eastern Horlivka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including near Dovzhanske (a border crossing point in Luhansk region near the border with the Russian Federation) and Novolaspa.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Khlibodarivka. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the Petrivske water pumping station in Artema and a water pipeline near Horlivka; it also facilitated access for workers to the Donetsk Filtration Station. In Kyiv the Mission monitored a gathering of 100 National Guard personnel, in Kharkiv it followed up on media reports of the vandalism of a monument, and in Uzhhorod it followed up on an incident at a public event on 8 March. In Odessa the SMM monitored two gathering commemorating the Day of Ukrainian Volunteer Fighters and in Lviv it followed up on reports of an explosion at a cemetery.

NEW YORK, 15 March 2018 –Trafficking of women and girls is a form of gender-based violence, based on inequality, said participants at an event organized today by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the sidelines of the 62nd meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, in New York...

A roundtable discussion and seminar dedicated to the promotion of electoral rights of people with disabilities took place on 15 March 2018 in Astana...

The OSCE’s Mobile Training Team delivered an interactive training course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters to 20 female and male border and security officers from Tajikistan from 13 to 15 March 2018 in Dushanbe...

NEW YORK, 15 March 2018 – Speaking at a panel on safety of female journalists at the United Nations Headquarters, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir underlined the link between safety of female journalists, plurality and democratic societies.

A two-day Border Security and Management Workshop concluded in in Dushanbe, on 14 March 2018. Its aim was to enhance Tajikistan’s capability to effectively manage its borders, disrupting illicit trafficking and terrorism threats, while also allowing for growth and development of commerce.

MINSK, 14 March 2018 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its Working Groups in Minsk on 14 March 2018: