News and press releases

A two-day training course for youth on tackling gender stereotypes and further supporting the advancement of women and girls in all spheres of public and political life concluded on 2 December 2016 at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan...

VIENNA, 5 December 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today said she was deeply saddened upon learning of the murder of two Finnish journalists and a politician in Imatra, eastern Finland, late on Saturday evening...

TASHKENT, 5 December 2016 – The 4 December presidential election in Uzbekistan underscored the need for comprehensive reforms to address long-standing procedural and systematic shortcomings, including to a legal framework that is not conducive to holding genuine democratic elections, the election observation mission from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded in a preliminary statement released today...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro facilitated a two-day meeting of the heads of Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) of the six South-East Europe countries, hosted by the Montenegrin FIU on 1 and 2 December 2016 in Budva...

Students from Gavar, Vanadzor, Gyumri, Goris, Kapan, Idjevan and Yerevan gathered in the capital on 3 December 2016 to take part in the final competition of the national university debate clubs, organized by the Jinishian Memorial Foundation (JMF) with the support of the OSCE Office in Yerevan...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. It continued to face restrictions to its movement in the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske.* The SMM’s freedom of movement was further restricted on six occasions. It followed up on reports of civilian casualties. The SMM monitored one border area not controlled by the Government. The SMM facilitated and monitored repair works on both sides of the contact line. The SMM monitored a protest march in Kyiv...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period. In Luhansk region the SMM noted a similar number of ceasefire violations as in the previous reporting period. The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and faced restrictions of its freedom of movement in all three areas.* The Mission followed up on reports of water supply cuts in Luhansk city. It visited one border area currently not under government control. In Kherson region, the SMM monitored the situation on the coast of the Black Sea and at the administrative boundary line between the Ukrainian mainland and Crimea, noting a calm situation...

STOCKHOLM, 2 December 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern over the treatment of Canadian photojournalist Edward Ou in October by U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities in Vancouver...

The first meeting of a Local Public Safety Council- the first structure of this kind in Albania, established with the assistance of the OSCE Presence- took place at the Municipality of Elbasan on 2 December 2016.

WARSAW, 2 December 2016 Ahead of tomorrow’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) called on participating States to take concrete steps to create more inclusive societies, free from intolerance and promoting the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life...

The impact that small, well-devised projects can have to effectively address hate crime and intolerance was at the centre of an event held in Kyiv on 2 December 2016. Participants discussed the results of five projects financed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and shared experiences and good practices to strengthen their efforts and co-operation with ODIHR and the local authorities.

SARAJEVO, 2 December 2016- It is clear that as the result of multiple actions on 2 October 2016, democracy was denied to the people of Stolac...

Effective responses to sexual and gender-based violence was the topic of a train-the-trainers course in Odessa that brought together police educators and officers from all over Ukraine on 1 and 2 December 2016.

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek supported a roundtable discussion in the Kyrgyz capital on 2 December 2016 focusing on the results of a needs assessment study by the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic (APAPKR) to identify the training requirements of parliamentary staff. It is first time Kyrgyzstan has conducted this kind of assessment since the country’s independence...

WARSAW, 2 December 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today condemned the execution in Belarus of Siarhei Khmialeuski and repeated his past calls for the authorities to introduce an immediate moratorium on executions...

VIENNA, 1 December 2016 – In their fifth briefing to the OSCE Permanent Council this year, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group Martin Sajdik and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine Ertugrul Apakan yesterday focused on the need for a real normalization and stabilization in eastern Ukraine, particularly through the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations as in the previous reporting period in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but fewer explosions than during the previous reporting period in each of them. The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and faced restrictions of its freedom of movement in all three areas.

On 30th November 2016, the 72nd meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti, co-facilitated by Kęstutis Jankauskas, the Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) and Ambassador Guenther Baechler, the Special Repre¬sentative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus...

Effective and human rights-compliant policing in Roma communities was the focus of a two-day training course for 20 Ukrainian police officers, organized by ODIHR from 30 November to 1 December in Odessa, Ukraine.

The Action against Terrorism Unit of the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, held a three-day workshop in Belgrade from 29 November to 1 December 2016 on establishing an Advance Passenger Information (API) system in the country in line with international standards...

A civil society forumwith representatives of non-governmental organizations on public participation and active citizenship, hosted by the OSCE Mission to Kosovo, was held on 1 December 2016 in Prishtinë/Priština...

VIENNA, 1 December 2016 – Attacks on journalists and impunity for crimes committed against journalists continue to plague media freedom in the OSCE region, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović told the Permanent Council today when she presented her latest semi-annual report on media freedom developments in the OSCE region over the past six months...

VIENNA, 1 December 2016 – Four male senior officials were presented today with a commemorative white ribbon by the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, honouring their work in promoting gender equality both in the OSCE’s activities and across the region...

TUZLA, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1 December 2016 – The fourth Advanced BiH Security Policy Course, organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Council of Ministers’ Inter-ministerial Working Group on Monitoring the Implementation of BiH Security Policy, concluded today in Tuzla.

The OSCE Mission to Moldova organized its fourth and final event in a year-long series of Human Rights Clubs for lawyers from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River, on 25 November 2016, in Chisinau. The event brought together 46 participants, who discussed ways to better assist clients in accessing health services and medical insurance...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in partnership with the Human and Minority Rights Ministry, launched on 25 November 2016 the campaign "16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence". The campaign was introduced in Podgorica at a conference gathering the main partners in the fight against gender based violence...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region during the reporting period and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM recorded the majority of the ceasefire violations around the Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport area. The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and faced restrictions of its freedom of movement in all three areas.* The SMM camera at the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge recorded at least two ceasefire violations within the disengagement area. The Mission followed up on reports of an accidental civilian casualty in Dokuchaievsk and three non-civilian casualties in Novozvanivka. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons and noted weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas. The SMM monitored repairs to essential infrastructure providing water to 50,000 people in and around Toretsk...

MOSCOW, 30 November 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) met with Russian Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matvienko and State Duma Deputy Chair Petr Tolstoy in Moscow this week for talks that focused on Russian involvement in the work of the OSCE PA, contribution of parliamentarians to the OSCE, and developments in and around Ukraine...

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 recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the evening of 27 and 28 November. In Luhansk region the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations compared with the evening of 27 and 28 November, with the majority having been recorded in areas along the contact line in the western part of the region. The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and faced restrictions of its freedom of movement in all three areas.*

The OSCE Mission to Moldova held its traditional Donors Forum for Transdniestrian civil society organizations on 29 November 2016 in Chisinau. This annual event gives donors and civil society organizations the opportunity to exchange information about their upcoming plans and priorities. It was attended by more than 80 participants and brought together a wide-range of initiative groups and non-governmental organisations from Transdniestria, with international agencies and embassies that are actively engaged as donors in Moldova.

LONDON, United Kingdom, 29 November 2016- Ambassador Madina Jarbussynova, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking and Sarah Newton, Minister for Vulnerability, Safeguarding and Countering Extremism of the government of the United Kingdom, opened today a workshop on preventing modern slavery in supply chains.

COPENHAGEN, 29 November 2016 – Welcoming the unveiling of a giant new dome being placed over Chernobyl nuclear power plant’s fourth reactor in Ukraine – the site 30 years ago of the worst accident in the history of nuclear power in the world – the leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment today issued the following statement...

BELGRADE, 29 November 2016 – More than 200 judges and experts from Serbia discussed the constitutional reform process during a conference organized by the Supreme Court of Cassation, the OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Council of Europe today in Belgrade...

More than 30 representatives of national human rights institutions (NHRIs), international organizations and academia took part in an expert meeting on the independence of NHRIs hosted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw on 28 and 29 November 2016.

An OSCE-supported training seminar on the judicial application of environmental legislation in civil cases took place on 29 November 2016 in Astana, Kazakhstan...

TASHKENT, 29 November 2016 – A two-day national seminar on community-policing approach to counter violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (VERLT), organized by the OSCE, began today in Tashkent...

From 6 to 10 November, the OSCE Mission to Moldova accompanied and supported a Moldovan delegation to the plenary meeting of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in Iasi, Romania. A priority for the delegation was to receive input for the first ever Moldovan Holocaust Action Plan, by drawing on best practices from other countries’ experiences. Romania in particular provided helpful insights to the Moldovan delegation, including by hosting a visit to the Iasi Jewish cemetery and to a former Holocaust killing site, which now serves as a museum.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations between the evenings of 25 and 26 November and fewer ceasefire violations between the evenings of 26 and 27 November, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM recorded the majority of ceasefire violations in the area north-east of Mariupol and around the Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport area. In Luhansk region the SMM observed ceasefire violations between the evenings of 25 and 26 November and the evenings of 26 and 27 November; it had observed none in the previous reporting period. All of the ceasefire violations were recorded in the western part of Luhansk region. The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and faced restrictions of its freedom of movement in all three areas.* It lost contact with a mini unmanned aerial vehicle north-east of Mariupol.* The Mission monitored three border areas not controlled by the Government. The SMM observed a public gathering near the Cabinet of Ministers in Kyiv...

COPENHAGEN, 28 November 2016 – OSCE parliamentarians will observe the upcoming parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and provide leadership for the short-term OSCE observer mission...

An OSCE-supported series of two-day training seminars defence lawyers, aimed at enhancing their understanding as well as common interpretation and implementation of the new criminal procedure legislation concluded in Aktau, Kazakhstan on 26 November 2016...

VIENNA, 28 November 2016 – The systematic collection, documentation and analysis of data on gender-based killings is necessary in order to address the root causes of this scourge, agreed participants of a high-level symposium marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which was held last Friday in Vienna...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan 28 November 2016- The third annual OSCE-supported Water Forum took place today in Almaty, Kazakhstan...

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region as in the previous reporting period, with the majority concentrated in the Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport area and areas north-east and east of Mariupol. In Luhansk region, the SMM did not record ceasefire violations. The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and faced restrictions of its freedom of movement in all three areas, including jamming of its unmanned aerial vehicle.* The Mission monitored a border area in an area under government control in Luhansk region and one in Odessa. The SMM observed long queues at the entry-exit checkpoints near Stanytsia Luhanska during the morning hours.

BELGRADE, 25 November 2016 – The role of State Attorneys in the rule of law and the provision of legal services were discussed at the first regional meeting of State Attorneys which concluded today in Belgrade...

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement process in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and faced restrictions of its freedom of movement in all three areas, as well as on eight other occasions.* The Mission monitored a border area currently not under government-control. The SMM facilitated and monitored repair work on both sides of the contact line. In Kyiv the Mission continued to monitor public gatherings around the National Bank of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers...

GENEVA, Switzerland, 25 November 2016 – Aiming to develop more effective responses to address trafficking on a national level, NGOs, think tanks, private businesses, leading international organizations and academics gathered in Geneva this week for consultations organized by the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, and supported by the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)...

Thirty experts from Ukraine’s agencies responsible for border security refined their skills and knowledge of fighting terrorism by using risk and criminal analysis at a two-week course for trainers, organized in Khmelnytsky by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine from 14 to 25 November 2016...

Good practices for analysing laws, policies and budgets from a gender perspective were the focus of a study visit for Belarusian authorities organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Vienna from 22 to 25 November 2016. A high-level delegation from Belarus,

Twenty-two representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry for Social Policy participated in a workshop on mainstreaming gender into communication organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Kyiv on 25 November 2016.