News and press releases

At 11:29 (EET) on 14 September, while stationary at an “LPR” checkpoint south of the bridge in Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), the SMM saw and heard what was assessed as an uncontrolled detonation in a forested area approximately 100 metres to the north-west, on the northern side of the river...

BUCHAREST, 14 SEPTEMBER 2016 –OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR/CTHB), Madina Jarbussynova, concluded on Tuesday a follow-up visit to Romania, aimed at discussing the country’s progress in implementing OSCE anti-trafficking commitments in relation to the previous 2013 OSR/CTHB report.

AGHVERAN, Armenia, 14 September 2016 – An OSCE-supported two-day training course on the protection of human rights in penitentiaries concluded today in Aghveran, Kotayk region, Armenia...

BISHKEK, 14 September 2016 – The Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA), the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and they Aarhus Centre in Osh today opened the first Public Environmental Information Centres (PEIC) in the towns of Mailuu-Suu and Shekaftar of Jalal-Abad region in southern Kyrgyzstan as well as in Min-Kush, Naryn region, in the northern part of the country...

VIENNA, 14 September 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović expressed concern today about a warrant issued for the arrest of Amy Goodman, a broadcast journalist in the United States, stemming from coverage of protests concerning an oil pipeline on Native American land in North Dakota...

BERLIN / KYIV, 14 September 2016- German Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier has embarked on a two-day visit to Ukraine, starting with political talks in Kyiv today. Steinmeier’s meetings with President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will take place together with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, thus reflecting the close and continuous political partnership of Germany and France in the framework of the so-called Normandy format...

PRAGUE, 14 September 2016 – Good governance is crucial to achieving sustainable development, strengthening stability and security within the OSCE region, highlighted participants at the 24th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum which opened today in Prague...

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

VIENNA, 14 September 2016 – Internet freedom is a cornerstone of free expression and free media, and must be ensured and strengthened, participants said today at a two-day OSCE-supported conference in Vienna...

ASTANA, 14 September 2016 – Promoting the Green Bridge Partnership Initiative (GBPI) with a focus on exchange of green technologies and improved co-operation is the topic of a two-day OSCE-supported international conference that started today in Astana...

A roundtable discussion on hate crime legislation in Moldova organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova in co-operation with the Moldovan Ministry of Justice brought together 27 representatives of the government, civil society and international organizations on 13 September 2016...

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...

KYIV, 14 September 2016- Legal provisions requiring prior permission from authorities for religious gatherings are not compliant with the country’s basic law, reads a decision of Ukraine’s Constitutional Court announced on Tuesday, 13 September 2016 in Kyiv...

The SMM recorded a decrease in ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with 11 September...

COPENHAGEN, 13 September 2016 – Former President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Ilkka Kanerva will lead the OSCE’s short-term observer mission to the 18 September vote in the Russian Federation. Kanerva, a member of parliament from Finland, was appointed Special Co-ordinator to lead the mission by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in July...

The SMM recorded a sharp increase of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region on both 10 and 11 September, including 515 and 116 explosions respectively, compared with 36 explosions recorded in the previous period...

MINSK, 12 September 2016 – The 11 September parliamentary elections were efficiently organized and there were visible efforts to address some long-standing issues, but a number of systemic shortcomings remain, the international observers concluded in a preliminary statement released today. The legal framework restricts political rights and fundamental freedoms and was interpreted in an overly restrictive manner. Media coverage did not enable voters to make an informed choice and, despite an overall increase in the number of candidates, including a significant number from the opposition, the campaign lacked visibility, the statement says...

The fourth in a series of five OSCE-supported training seminars on profiling techniques at border checkpoints to help counter transnational crime started on 12 September in Karasu, Southern Kazakhstan...

BERLIN, 12 September 2016- The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, had meetings in Moscow, from 8 to 10 September, with the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, the Aide to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladislav Surkov, as well as with the representatives of the Russian Federation in the TCG, Boris Gryzlov and Azamat Kulmukhametov...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations both in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period...

ISSYK-KUL, Kyrgyzstan, 10 September 2016 – The second two-day seminar of the OSCE-supported Central Asian Youth Network (CAYN) began today in Kara-Oi village, Issyk-Kul region, for around 40 university students, new members of the CAYN and alumni from Afghanistan, Central Asia and Mongolia...

The SMM recorded an increase in ceasefire violations, but a decrease in explosions in Donetsk region, 63 compared with 139 explosions in the previous reporting period...

BERLIN, 9 September 2016- Germany, also in its capacity as the OSCE Chairmanship in 2016, has declared its sharp condemnation of the latest nuclear test in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)...

On 8 September 2016, the OSCE Mission to Moldova organized the first in a series of public debates for young people aimed at encouraging the establishment of debate clubs in schools throughout Moldova. Some 50 high school students and teachers participated in or observed the debate, which took place in a school in Avdarma – a village in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia...

ASHGABAT, 9 September 2016 – Some 25 content managers and IT specialists from Turkmenistan’s Mejlis (Parliament), law-enforcement bodies, key ministries, media and financial institutions discussed new opportunities for communication through websites of state institutions at an OSCE-organized course that concluded today in Ashgabat...

POZZALLO, Italy, 9 September 2016 – In the second in a series of visits to migration hotspots across Europe, a senior delegation of OSCE parliamentarians today wrapped up a visit to Sicily, where they witnessed first-hand the challenges faced by refugees, migrants, aid workers and authorities related to the ongoing migration crisis impacting the continent...

COPENHAGEN, 9 September 2016 – To continue developing the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s potential in addressing aspects of the conflict cycle, including early warning, prevention and dialogue facilitation, PA President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) has appointed President Emeritus Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) as the Assembly’s first Special Representative on Mediation...

The number of explosions recorded by the SMM in Donetsk region more than doubled (139) compared with the previous reporting period (62 explosions)...

SARAJEVO, 8 September 2016 – Laws and policies on content blocking, surveillance and other online measures to counter terrorism must also safeguard the fundamental right to free expression online, according to participants at an OSCE-sponsored two-day event in Sarajevo, which ended today...

PODGORICA, 8 September 2016 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened an election observation mission for the 16 October parliamentary elections in Montenegro. The mission’s deployment follows an invitation from the authorities of Montenegro...

ASHGABAT, 8 September 2016 – International human rights standards at the stage of criminal proceedings and investigations were the focus of an OSCE-organized course for 50 students of the Institute of the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry’s Institute of International Relations, which will conclude in Ashgabat tomorrow...

MINSK, 7 September 2016- Ambassador Martin Sajdik, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the implementation of the peace plan in eastern Ukraine, made the following press statement after today's meeting of the TCG and its four Working Groups in Minsk...

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 SMM recorded a higher number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as confirmed the death of a woman from shelling in Shchastia on 30 August...

SARAJEVO, 7 September 2016 – An OSCE-supported seminar on strengthening rule of law-compliant criminal justice responses to terrorism, which brought together over 30 legal, security and counterterrorism practitioners from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), concluded today in Sarajevo...

GARMISH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany, 7 September 2016 – An OSCE-supported training course for 17 border security and management officers and counter-terrorism experts from participating States and Partners for Co-operation countries on the identification of foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) concluded today in Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany. The one-week course is the second stage of a multi-phase project to establish the first ever OSCE multi-national and multi-agency mobile training team for the identification of FTF at the borders...

At 22:49 (EET) on 6 September the security guard of the SMM office located in central Ivano-Frankivsk noted on the CCTV camera that an SMM vehicle (Nissan Patrol) in the parking lot was on fire and called the fire brigade...

BERLIN, 7 September 2016- A two-day high-level conference focusing on the prevention of human trafficking for labour exploitation in supply chains, organized by the OSCE Office of the Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in co-operation with the German OSCE Chairmanship, opened today in Berlin...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 7 September 2016 – An OSCE-supported three-day training seminar on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) for some 60 banking, insurance, security industry and government sector representatives began today in Almaty...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region on 5 September, with five recorded explosions compared to 43 during the previous day...

ASHGABAT, 6 September 2016- Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry, with the support of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, hosted today the fourth meeting of the regional technical working group on confidence-building measures in the framework of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan...

VIENNA, 6 September 2016 – Representatives of financial intelligence agencies in charge of combating money laundering from 10 countries, as well as experts from international organizations conducted a two-day expert meeting on “Fostering Co-operation in Combating Corruption and Money Laundering” that ended in Vienna today...

ASTANA, 6 September 2016 – An OSCE-supported roundtable dedicated to the strengthening of re-socialization of former prisoners took place today in Astana, bringing together some 40 high-level government officials, international experts, legal scholars and members of civil society...

BERLIN, 6 September 2016 – Confronting increasing manifestations of racism and xenophobia against Roma and Sinti and strengthening coalition-building among political leaders to counter discrimination are the focus of an OSCE high-level event in Berlin today...

DUSHANBE, 6 September 2016 – Twenty officers of the Tajik border troops graduated today from a four-week basic patrol and leadership course at the Gissar Training Centre. The course was organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan and was conducted from 10 August to 6 September 2016...

The power to the SMM’s camera at the Oktiabr mine in Donetsk had been cut off and auxiliary equipment had been stolen...

VIENNA, 5 September 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned arson attack against Inter, a nationwide television broadcaster, which took place yesterday during a demonstration in Kyiv...

BISHKEK, 5 September 2016 – With the support of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, the Crisis Management Centre of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan conducted a series of 14 training courses for operators of the Unified State Emergency Dispatching Agency (USEDA). The training was held from 22 August to 4 September 2016 in the Osh, Jalal-Abad, Batken, Issyk-Kul, Talas, Chui regions...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region (three explosions compared with 18) and also in Luhansk region (one explosion compared with eight) compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian injuries, conducted crater analysis in Shchastia and Kamianka, and observed damage from shelling to civilian infrastructure. The SMM monitored three border crossing areas, in Zhovtneve, Petrivka and Uspenka, and visited schools on both sides of the contact line. The SMM encountered impediments to its freedom of movement, including threats of violence against SMM members, all in areas outside of government control. The SMM continued to monitor a calm situation al ong the administrative boundary line between the mainland and Crimea. The SMM observed clashes between protestors and the dispersal of a public gathering in Odessa...

The Central Election Commission (CEC) and the OSCE Presence in Albania organized a series of voter information and education sessions for 140 women in the municipality of Dibra on 1 and 2 September 2016, ahead of the 11 September mayoral by-election. The events, which took place in three administrative units of the municipality- Peshkopi, Muhur and Maqellarë- raised awareness among women, including first time voters, about their rights and the importance of voting...