News and press releases

The OSCE Programme Office in Astana facilitated the participation of two members of Kazakhstan’s Parliament at an international seminar on water facilities safety in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, on 26 and 27 April 2017...

The link between effective peace processes and the inclusion of women was the focus of a meeting organized by the OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Secretariat on 25 and 26 April 2017 in Baden, Austria...

Strengthening protection and preparedness against terrorist attacks aimed at industrial control systems is the focus of a table-top simulation in Tirana on 26 and 27 April 2017 organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department with the support of the OSCE Presence in Albania...

The human rights-compliant implementation of legislation and policies to counter the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon were the focus of an expert meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) from 25 to 26 April in Warsaw. The event brought together

The SMM resumed patrolling in eastern Ukraine, with some restrictions, following the more limited patrolling conducted on 24 April after the serious security incident that involved an SMM patrol on 23 April near Pryshyb, which affected its observations, including of ceasefire violations. Violations of the ceasefire continued. In Donetsk region the SMM observed about 600 ceasefire violations, including about 110 explosions. In Luhansk region the SMM observed one shot of small-arms fire assessed as inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area....

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...

Eighteen Afghan border police officers completed a two-week training course on search and rescue on 26 April 2017. The course was organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan...

An OSCE-supported three-day training course aimed at enhancing journalists’ skills in covering security issues concluded on 23 April 2017 in the village of Bulan-Sogutuu, in the Issyk-Kul province of Kyrgyzstan...

Legal professionals from seven OSCE field operations and representatives of 29 NGOs from the OSCE region exchanged experiences in trial monitoring at a meeting co-organized by ODIHR and the OSCE Mission to Skopje from 24 to 26 April 2017 in Skopje.

NICOSIA, 25 April 2017 – At an OSCE-led meeting in Nicosia today, representatives of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot journalists, together with international media freedom experts, discussed ways to enhance their co-operation, and adopted a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)...

The SMM conducted limited patrolling in Donetsk and Luhansk regions following the serious security incident that involved an SMM patrol on 23 April in Pryshyb, which affected its observations, including of ceasefire violations. The SMM observed about 40 ceasefire violations in Donetsk, including about 35 explosions, and about 220 ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, including two explosions. The SMM camera in Stanytsia Luhanska recorded ceasefire violations assessed as inside the disengagement area. Aerial imagery revealed weapons in violations of the withdrawal lines. The Mission monitored a border area currently not under government control. The SMM monitored the continuation of protests at branches of Sberbank of Russia in Kyiv, Odessa and Kharkiv...

WARSAW, 25 April 2017 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Professor Ingeborg Gabriel, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions, today expressed serious concern over the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to declare the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ national headquarters and all local communities “extremist” and to ban their activities with immediate effect...

SARAJEVO, 25 April 2017 – A group of 12 young people from the Western Balkans region participated in a two-day workshop and discussed their role in prevention of violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism, which concluded today in Sarajevo...

An SMM patrol member died and two more were taken to hospital after an explosion severely damaged an SMM vehicle near Pryshyb, possibly after the vehicle came into contact with a mine. Between the evenings of 21 and 22 April the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 22 and 23 April the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24-hour period. The Mission saw damage in Novooleksandrivka, Katerynivka, Dokuchaievsk and Syhnalne. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* It observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM saw mines and unexploded ordnance in populated areas. The Mission monitored three border areas currently not under government control...

The concluding module of a train-the-trainers course for instructors of the Central Asia border institutes was delivered by the OSCE Border Management Staff College at the State Border Guard College of Latvia in Rezekne from 17 to 22 April 2017...

KYIV (24 April)-- The entire OSCE Special Monitoring Mission is filled with great sorrow at the loss of a team member while conducting a patrol near non-government controlled Pyshyb in the Luhansk region yesterday morning.

On 23 April an SMM patrol consisting of six members and two armoured vehicles was driving near “LPR”-controlled Pryshyb (34km north-west of Luhansk) on a secondary road previously used by the SMM. At 11:17, one of the SMM vehicles (second in line), with three members on board, was severely damaged as a result of an explosion, possibly after coming into contact with a mine.

LUHANSK, 23 April 2017 – A paramedic who was part of a patrol of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) died and two SMM monitors were taken to hospital today after their vehicle was heavily damaged by an explosion near Pryshyb in a non-government controlled area of Luhansk region...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, but fewer explosions in Donetsk region and fewer ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* It observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission saw damage from shelling and gunfire in Dokuchaievsk and near Katerynivka. The SMM continued to monitor the presence of protestors and tent booths at a blockade site in Bakhmut. The Mission monitored three border areas currently not under government control. The SMM monitored the continuation of protests in front of branches of the Sberbank of Russia in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa. The Mission monitored the situation along the administrative boundary line between Kherson and Crimea.

A two-day specialized security policy course focused on corruption and its implications for security, hosted by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Inter-Ministerial Working Group for Monitoring the Implementation of the Security Policy of BiH, concluded on 21 April 2017 in Sarajevo...

The SMM observed more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* It observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It continued to note long queues at entry-exit checkpoints. The SMM continued to monitor the presence of protestors and tent booths in Bakhmut. The Mission continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to essential infrastructure in Bakhmut. The Mission saw a damaged water supply system in Luhansk. The Mission monitored a border area currently not under government control. The SMM monitored the continuation of protests in front of branches of the Sberbank of Russia in Kyiv and Kharkiv...

An OSCE-supported two-day roundtable discussion and workshop on promoting rural entrepreneurship for women of the South Kazakhstan Region concluded on 21 April 2017 in Shymkent...

An OSCE-supported two-day international seminar aimed at countering the illicit trafficking of new psychoactive substances concluded in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 21 April 2017...

MARY, Turkmenistan, 20 April 2017 – An OSCE-organized three-day course on best practices in developing a national strategy for solar energy concluded today at the Turkmen State Energy Institute in the city of Mary, Turkmenistan...

The SMM observed a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on a report of damage to a house in Molodizhne from gunfire. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted. It observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission followed up on media reports of a gathering in Donetsk city centre. The SMM continued to note long queues at entry-exit checkpoints. The Mission monitored one border area currently not under government control. The SMM monitored a gathering at the Odessa regional court of appeals, as well as the continuation of protests at branches of the Sberbank of Russia in Kyiv, Odessa, Dnipro and Kharkiv...

The OSCE Mission to Skopje on 20 April 2017 presented the findings and recommendations of an evaluation of the OSCE’s training courses for police on the Law on Criminal Procedure, which were conducted between 2011 and 2015...

The implementation of the revised minimum standard rules for the treatment of prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules) was the focus of a meeting of practitioners in the OSCE region held on 19 and 20 April 2017 in Warsaw.

WARSAW, 19 April 2017 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today raised concern about the compressed execution schedule in the State of Arkansas this month and called on the United States to once more consider the complete abolition of capital punishment, in the context of the international debate linking the practice with torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment...

The SMM observed fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions between the evenings of 17 and 18 April compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM followed up on reports of damage from shelling in Avdiivka. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* It observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission observed unexploded ordnance in populated areas. It monitored demining in Katerynivka. The SMM continued to observe that roads and railway routes in Bakhmut and Buhas were not blocked. The SMM monitored one border area currently not under government control...

The importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to the prevention of early forced marriages was the main topic discussed at a workshop organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro on 18 April 2017 in Podgorica...

The office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine organized a conference on “Multilingual education in the OSCE region: experiences and perspectives for Ukraine” on 13 April 2017 in Kyiv. Opening the conference, Minister for

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...

The SMM observed fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions between the evenings of 14 and 15 April and between the evenings of 15 and 16 April, compared with the previous reporting period, but more ceasefire violations between the evenings of 16 and 17 April compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM followed up on reports of damage from shelling in residential areas.

ASHGABAT, 18 April 2017 – An OSCE-organized training course on enhancing the professional skills of press officers of Turkmenistan’s state institutions opened today in Ashgabat...

CHAPAEVO, Kazakhstan, 17 April 2017 – The first in a series of five OSCE-supported three-day training seminars on national and international mechanisms of human rights protection started today in the village of Chapaevo, West Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan.

ANKARA, 17 April 2017 – The 16 April constitutional referendum in Turkey was contested on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities, the international observers concluded in a statement released today. While the technical aspects of the process were well administered, voters were not provided with impartial information about key aspects of the reform, and limitations on fundamental freedoms had a negative effect, the statement says.

The SMM observed more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, though fewer explosions, compared with the previous reporting period. It observed fewer ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of a civilian casualty in Pikuzy and damage to houses from gunfire in Sentianivka. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The Mission observed ceasefire violations assessed as inside the disengagement area near Zolote. It observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line, in Luhansk city and Kalinina. The SMM followed up on reports that an explosion had damaged railway tracks near Orikhove. The Mission visited two border areas currently not controlled by the Government. It monitored the continuation of protests outside some branches of a bank in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odessa. The SMM continued to monitor the situation in Balakliia (Kharkiv region) following last month’s fire at an ammunition depot.

The SMM observed more ceasefire violations both in Donetsk and Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.

An OSCE-supported three-day training seminar for police officers in psychological profiling techniques used when policing large-scale events concluded in Karaganda, Kazakhstan on 14 April 2017.

An OSCE-supported training seminar on the judicial application of environmental legislation in civil cases took place today in Astana on 14 April 2017.

WARSAW, 13 April 2017 Michael Georg Link, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today called on Russian Federation authorities to urgently investigate the alleged disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment against men in Chechnya based on their real or perceived sexual orientation.

The SMM observed fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM heard and felt explosions within 500m near Molodizhne and Pervomaisk. It followed up on a report of a civilian casualty as the result of a detonation of an explosive device in Vesela Tarasivka. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal line in non-government-controlled areas. It visited one border area currently not controlled by the Government. The SMM continued to monitor the status of the blockade of railway routes, noting again that obstacles on the railroad tracks near Hirske were no longer present. The Mission monitored the continuation of protests outside banks in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa and Dnipro...

Some 25 women entrepreneurs from rural areas of the Akmola Region took part in the first in a series of three OSCE-supported training seminars on the application of green technologies in Arnasai, a village near Astana, on 13 April 2017...

MINSK, 13 April 2017 – 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 12 April 2017:..

On 12 April an SMM patrol consisting of five members and two armoured vehicles was travelling from government-controlled Katerynivka (64km west of Luhansk) to Popasna (69km west of Luhansk), 1.2km west of Zolote/Pervomaisk disengagement area. At 10:07, while driving, the SMM heard one undetermined explosion and saw black smoke in a forested area 200-250m south of its position. Less than a minute later, while the SMM continued driving west for about 100 metres to leave the area, the SMM heard another undetermined explosion at an unknown distance and direction. At 12:35 the patrol safely arrived at its base in Sievierodonetsk. No SMM members were hurt or vehicles damaged...

The SMM observed more ceasefire violations in Donetsk but fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission heard small-arms fire assessed as aimed at an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle flying near Staryi Aidar. It followed up on reports of civilian casualties and damage to residences from shelling and gunfire in Dokuchaievsk, Marinka and Khreshchatytske. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It visited four border areas currently not controlled by the Government. The SMM continued to monitor the status of the blockade of railway routes, noting that obstacles on the railroad tracks near Hirske were no longer present. The Mission monitored the continuation of protests in Poltava, Kyiv and Kharkiv. In Kyiv it also followed up on a media report of an explosion at a cafe...

State and civil society representatives from across Ukraine met as part of the Third National Confidence and Capacity-Building Event in Kyiv on 11 and 12 April 2017. The event, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), provided a forum to improve co-operation between state institutions and civil society groups to address hate crime...

DUSHANBE, 12 April 2017 – A two-day train-the-trainer course focused on the role of parents in the prevention of terrorism, organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, concluded today in Dushanbe...

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 decreased at both BCPs...

On 11 April an SMM patrol consisting of five monitors and two armoured vehicles was positioned about 2.5km south of government-controlled Staryi Aidar (20km north-west of Luhansk) and about 2km north-west of the contact line.