News and press releases

The SMM recorded a higher number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk, including 126 explosions compared with 38 in the previous reporting period...

WARSAW, 22 September 2016 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, and the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Michael Georg Link, today congratulated the daily Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet on receiving the Right Livelihood Award, more commonly known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize”...

ASTANA, 22 September 2016 – Current trends in international terrorism and ways to prevent young people from engaging in violent extremism and radicalization were among the topics of an OSCE-supported international roundtable discussion, which took place today in Astana, Kazakhstan...

BISHKEK, 22 September 2016 – The development of the police system of Kyrgyzstan in the context of security sector reform is being discussed at a two-day international conference, which opened today in Bishkek...

Some 50 police officers, investigators, prosecutors and judges from six regions of Ukraine participated in a two-day roundtable discussion on the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking crimes committed with the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine on 21-22 September 2016 in Kharkiv...

A five-day training course on use of digital skills to promote OSCE values for young people from Albania and Serbia concluded on 22 September 2016 in the Albanian city of Durrës. The course was organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia in partnership with the OSCE Presence in Albania, in co-operation with the Serbia’s Ministry of Youth and Sport, Albanian Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth and the National Youth Council of Serbia...

ASHGABAT, 22 September 2016 –An OSCE-supported practical course on Internet journalism for some 40 journalism students at the International University for Humanities and Development concluded today in Ashgabat...

MINSK, 22 September 2016- Martin Sajdik, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) made the following press statement after the meeting of the TCG and its four Working Groups in Minsk on 21 September 2016:

NEW YORK, 22 September 2016- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the Framework Decision on Disengagement of Forces and Hardware agreed by the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on 21 September 2016.

MINSK, 21 September 2016 – Ambassador Martin Sajdik, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and to the Trilateral Contact Group, made the following press statement today after a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group:...

The attitude and behavior of the police before and during assemblies greatly influence the course these events take, said participants in a side event focusing on challenges and good practices in the area of human-rights complaint assembly policing held during the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, on 21 September 2016...

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations both in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period...

DUSHANBE, 21 September 2016 – A manual on rehabilitation of victims of domestic violence targeting psychology students published with the support of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan was presented at an event jointly organized with the Tajik National University. Copies of the manual were handed over to the University’s Department of Psychology and for distribution to other university libraries in the country...

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...

The challenges in promoting and securing the rights of persons with disabilities, ensuring their inclusion in the political and public life and in decision-making processes, as well as in promoting their unhindered participation in sport events, were discussed at a side event that took place on 20 September 2016 during the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw...

The need to strengthen efforts to follow up on electoral assessments and recommendations was the focus of a side-event organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) during the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw on 20 September 2016.

The SMM recorded significantly fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region (including 35 explosions) compared with 18 September (which included 322 explosions). In Luhansk region the Mission recorded 11 ceasefire violations (no explosions), compared with none during 18 September. The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. It observed four Uragan multiple-launch rocket systems in Rubizhne and the presence of armoured vehicles in the security zone. The SMM monitored the situation of civilians queuing at checkpoints along the contact line. The Mission facilitated repair work of water infrastructure and demining activities in Luhansk region. The SMM continued to monitor the situation at a school along the contact line. In Odessa it monitored the re-establishment of a protest against the mayor. The Mission encountered one restriction of its freedom of movement...

Discussion on environmental issues, training courses and educational tours for schoolchildren were among the activities held on 15-17 September 2016 in Khosrov State Reserve to mark the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer...

WARSAW, 20 September 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned the setting ablaze of a reporter’s car in Nicosia, Cyprus...

An OSCE-supported workshop for 20 border guards and customs officers from Central Asian countries on border inspection ethics and public service standards began on 20 September 2016 in Almaty, Kazakhstan...

FAROB, Tajikistan, 20 September 2016 – The OSCE Office in Tajikistan in partnership with the Tajikistan National Mine Action Centre and local authorities organized today a roundtable discussion on landmine threats awareness in Farob. The event was a culmination of a four-month public awareness campaign, which included broadcasting of risk awareness clips on Tajikistan national TV and radio as well as a painting competition in districts under landmine threat...

An OSCE-supported concept for legal education reform in Ukraine was presented to parliamentarians, legal professionals, law students and representatives of lawyers associations at an event held on 14 September 2016 in Kyiv...

AKTOBE, Kazakhstan, 20 September 2016 – A three-day training seminar for law-enforcement officers on best practices and international standards in policing in multi-ethnic societies began today in Aktobe, Kazakhstan.

PODGORICA, 19 September 2016 – The OSCE’s role and activities in Security Sector Governance and Reform (SSG/R) in South-Eastern Europe, and the challenges and opportunities in the field, are the focus of a three-day regional workshop organized by the OSCE Secretariat with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, from 19 to 21 September in Podgorica.

The SMM noted an increase in violence recorded in Donetsk region on both 17 and 18 September, including 246 and 322 explosions respectively, compared with 39 explosions recorded on 16 September...

On 16 September 2016, the OSCE Mission to Moldova organized the second in a year-long series of meetings of the Human Rights Club for lawyers from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River. The event, held in Chisinau, brought together 35 lawyers and NGO representatives to discuss the execution of court decisions and the details needed to keep their clients informed...

The Acting Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Robert Wilton, has issued the following statement with regard to the Elections for Mayor in the municipality of Dibra on 11 September 2016, following the expiration of the deadline for appeals, 19 September 2016:...

WARSAW, 19 September 2016- OSCE participating States must focus on their commitments to defend human rights to effectively retain real security, speakers said at the opening of the 20th OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw today...

MOSCOW, 19 September 2016- The 18 September State Duma elections in the Russian Federation were transparently administered by the Central Election Commission, but challenges to democratic commitments remain. The legal framework can serve as an adequate basis for elections, but the electoral environment was negatively affected by restrictions to fundamental freedoms and political rights, firmly controlled media and a tightening grip on civil society, the international observers concluded in a preliminary statement released today...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 19 September 2016 – The OSCE-supported seventh annual Central Asian Leadership Programme (CALP) for some 40 young environmental leaders and decision-makers from the state, non-governmental, academic and business sectors of Central Asia and Afghanistan on sustainable development goals and improved co-operation began today in Almaty, Kazakhstan...

The SMM noted a calmer security situation in Donetsk region, including 39 explosions compared with 425 during the previous reporting period...

SARAJEVO, 17 September 2016- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Regional Representation for South-Eastern Europe (UNHCR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to BiH welcome the decision of the BiH Council of Ministers to form a Co-ordination Team to follow the implementation of rights of refugees and displaced persons under Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Accords...

VIENNA, 16 September 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović expressed serious concern about the reported confiscation of equipment and deletion of recorded footage taken by Russian journalist Oksana Sazonova and Ukrainian journalist Sergey Belous in Prishtinë/Priština...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region including 425 explosions compared with the previous reporting period (670 explosions). The SMM observed no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. It observed damage to civilian infrastructure in Donetsk region and facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. The SMM observed the presence of unexploded ordnance and also followed up on an uncontrolled detonation near Stanytsia Luhanska bridge...

VIENNA, 16 September 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today called on Serbian authorities to fully investigate acts of intimidation and threats directed at several journalists...

On the occasion of the Anna Lindh Foundation Advisory Council, the New-Med, an OSCE-supported network of Mediterranean experts, in co-operation with Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, held a seminar on the topic of Redefining Cultural Dialogue in Time of Crisis: a Mediterranean Perspective, on 8 September 2016 in Rome...

KHUJAND, Tajikistan, 16 September 2016 – The next session of the OSCE-organized high-level dialogue on countering human trafficking took place today in Khujand and brought together some 60 participants from state agencies, civil society organizations, academia and the international community, as part of the Office’s support to the Inter-agency Commission on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings under Tajikistan’s Presidential Apparatus...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro held the first in a series of three training courses for Montenegrin Senior Administration Management of the Parliamentary service, in co-operation with the Parliamentary Department for Human Resources, from 15 to 16 September 2016, in Podgorica...

ISSYK-KUL, Kyrgyzstan, 16 September 2016 – A two-day roundtable to discuss the National Action Plan (NAP) on the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 on effective measures against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction concluded today in the village of Bulan Sogottu, Issyk-Kul region...

VIENNA, 16 September 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned a recent physical attack and threats against journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period...

An OSCE-supported series of re-training programmes for anti-trafficking and patrol police officers in Ukraine was launched on 14 September 2016 and will be implemented throughout the country. Some 200 anti-trafficking police officers passing the attestation process and over 3500 patrol police officers will participate in the 100-hour courses by the end of the year...

The OSCE Presence in Albania, in close co-operation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), organized on 15 September 2016 a strategic workshop of the Steering Board and senior management of Albanian Public Radio and Television (RTSH), to share ideas on transforming the RTSH into a true public service broadcaster...

VIENNA, 15 September – Moving forward the dialogue between participating States on a number of current security challenges, including the crisis in and around Ukraine, arms control and confidence- and security- building measures, will be key priorities of Portugal’s Chairmanship of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC). Providing a platform for further discussions on gender equality in armed forces, as well as promoting the security dialogue in the Mediterranean region will also be high on the agenda...

KRAMATORSK, 15 September 2016- On the second day of his visit to Ukraine, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, together with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, visited the Patrol Hub of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) in the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. They also met with internally displaced persons (IDP) in Sloviansk. The ministers were accompanied by OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier...

An essay on bridging gaps in education of Roma youth, jointly written by a Jovana Zjacic, a 23-year-old volunteer at a shelter for homeless children, and Ana Cosic, a German-language teacher from Macvanska Mitrovica, was selected as the winner of a competition organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia on the role of youth in the implementation of the OSCE’s human dimension commitments, on 7 September 2016 in Belgrade...

VIENNA, 15 September 2016 – Enhancing the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security is the focus of the OSCE-supported National Action Plan (NAP) Academy that started today in Vienna, bringing together 52 practitioners from across the OSCE region. Participants in the two-day event will discuss ways to increase the impact of their Action Plans, as well as exchange experiences and best practices...

WARSAW, 15 September 2016 – Governments need to continue to strengthen the rule of law and promote human rights in order to bolster trust in democratic systems, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said today, on the International Day of Democracy...

The OSCE Mission to Moldova held the third in a series of Civil Society Club meetings on 14 September 2016 aimed at improving NGOs’ ability to get the message out more effectively on issues of interest to the public. The event was held in Tiraspol and brought together 15 civil society representatives providing social assistance to women, youth and the underprivileged...

TASHKENT, 15 September 2016 – An OSCE-organized seminar for some 40 state officials, parliamentarians and experts on effective national counter-terrorism policies, guided by the relevant international legal framework, took place today in Tashkent...