News and press releases

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCP). The overall cross-border traffic increased at both BCPs. A forty-eighth Russian Convoy crossed at the Donetsk BCP...

ASTANA, 24 February 2016- An OSCE-supported training course for some 30 judges and representatives of regional courts from across Kazakhstan on best practices in combating corruption in the judiciary was held today in Astana...

TBILISI, 24 February 2016 – The OSCE Centre in Bishkek, in co-operation with the Justice Ministry of Georgia organized a three-day study visit of eight Kyrgyz Government officials to Tbilisi from 22 to 24 February 2016 to exchange experiences on reforms to public and municipal administration...

The SMM observed a large number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. The situation remained relatively calm in Luhansk region. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM encountered freedom-of-movement restrictions. The SMM observed commemorative events for the victims of violence in Odessa and Kharkiv. The SMM observed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoints near Marinka were open. The SMM observed damage to a television station in Kyiv. The SMM confirmed that an NGO activist held by the “DPR” had been released...

The SMM observed ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It observed shelling damage to houses. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM encountered freedom-of-movement restrictions, the majority in areas not under government control. The SMM observed generally peaceful but occasionally violent demonstrations commemorating the events on Maidan two years ago...

The SMM observed a number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It observed shelling damage to houses. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM visited border crossing points, including in areas not controlled by the Government. In Kharkiv and Odessa regions, the Mission monitored movement restrictions on Ukrainian and Russian Federation-registered trucks...

The SMM observed a number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It observed gunfire damage to a school. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM observed long lines at checkpoints close to the contact line...

The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 25 October and 15 November 2015 local elections in Ukraine recommends a comprehensive review of legislation, including to ensure equality of the vote and to bring laws in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations for democratic elections.

The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on Croatia’s 8 November 2015 parliamentary elections recommends the harmonization of electoral legislation and ensuring equality of the vote among electoral constituencies, in line with OSCE commitments and international standards.

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Situations awarded the OSCE Centre in Bishkek the title of “Partner of the Year- 2015” at a ceremony in Bishkek on 19 February 2016 as part of the Strategy on Disaster Risk Reduction 2030 Forum...

Elections experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) met with electoral stakeholders in Yerevan on 18 and 19 February 2016 to present recommendations from the final report on the 6 December 2015 constitutional referendum in Armenia.

International standards and good practices in introduction of new voting technologies (NVT) were the focus of an expert seminar organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Administration of the President of Armenia in co-operation with the OSCE/ODIHR on 19 February 2016 in Yerevan...

Identifying strategies to counter intolerance against Muslims was the focus of a conference organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the 2016 German Chairmanship, in Vienna on 19 February 2016.

The effectiveness of gender equality mechanisms at the local level in Ukraine was the focus of a workshop organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institution and Human Rights (ODIHR), in co-operation with the Equal Opportunities Inter-Faction Union of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s Parliament, in Kharkiv, on 19 February 2016.

DUSHANBE, 19 February 2016 – A four-day training course organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan on effective intervention by police inspectors in domestic violence cases, concluded in Dushanbe today...

Some 120 political officials, civil society representatives, international experts and members of academia from more than 30 countries discussed practical steps towards improving political finance regulations in Eastern and Central Europe at a conference co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Tbilisi on 18 and 19 February 2016.

KYIV, 18 February 2016 – The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, Ertugrul Apakan, expressed his gratitude to all 57 OSCE participating States for their support for the Mission, following a consensus decision today to extend the SMM’s mandate to 31 March 2017...

The SMM observed a number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM observed damage to homes caused by recent shelling. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM observed long lines of civilians and vehicles waiting at checkpoints close to the contact line, which it attributed to the closure of the Marinka checkpoint. In Odessa, the SMM observed activists at a checkpoint for trucks from the Russian Federation transiting through Ukraine...

On 18 February 2016 at 07:00hrs (Moscow time), a Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 39 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guard and customs services. All of 39 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 13:50hrs on 18 February...

SKOPJE, 18 February 2016 – The OSCE-supported Building Bridges Fund, launched in 2014, will continue for a third year, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje Nina Suomalainen announced today...

WARSAW, 18 February 2016 – Today, following the sentencing to death in Minsk of both Sergei Khmelevsky this week and Henadz Yakaritski on 5 January 2016, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), called on Belarus to introduce an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and its complete abolition...

BERLIN / VIENNA, 18 February 2016 – The mandate of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) was extended today by the OSCE Permanent Council to 31 March 2017, a move welcomed by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Secretary General Lamberto Zannier...

BISHKEK, 18 February 2016 – The Kyrgyz Ministry of Education and Science issued a new license for the OSCE Academy’s Master’s Degree programme in Political Science with focus on Central Asia. Sergey Kapinos, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, today presented the license to the Academy’s Director Pal Dunay at the OSCE Centre’s premises...

COPENHAGEN, 18 February 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) issued the following statement on the 17 February terror attack in Ankara:

BERLIN / VIENNA, 18 February 2016 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier today condemned in the strongest terms the terror attack perpetrated in Ankara that killed at least 28 people and left more than 60 wounded.

It is necessary to replace the military logic that still dominates in eastern Ukraine with the civilian one, said Alexander Hug, the Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, after his visits to Marinka, Telmanove and Kominternove on 17 February 2016...

The SMM observed a significant increase in ceasefire violations from previous days, both in Donetsk and Luhansk region. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons, facilitated and monitored demining and repair works and continued to monitor the humanitarian situation on both sides of the contact line. The SMM encountered one freedom-of-movement restriction. The Mission observed protests in other parts of Ukraine calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister.

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCP). The overall cross-border traffic increased at both BCPs...

CHISINAU, 17 February 2016 – The Special Representative of the German OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process, Cord Meier-Klodt, today concluded his first visit to the region in his new capacity, which included meetings with the political leadership in Chisinau and Tiraspol...

MINSK, 17 February 2016 – More than 40 representatives of law enforcement agencies from Belarus, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and experts from eight international organizations concluded a two-day discussion in Minsk today on greater co-operation among law enforcement agencies in combating the increasing spread of new psychoactive substances...

SARAJEVO, 17 February 2016- The education sector can play a crucial role in preventing young people from succumbing to ‘pull factors’ leading to violent extremism and terrorism, participants said at an OSCE-sponsored event dedicated to countering violent extremism and radicalization through education, which concluded today...

DUSHANBE, 17 February 2016 – Eleven border officials from national training institutions of Afghanistan and Tajikistan completed a week-long train-the-trainer course today at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe, focusing on modern instructional methods...

ASTANA, 17 February 2016 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened an election observation mission (EOM) for the 20 March early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan. The mission’s deployment follows an invitation from the authorities of Kazakhstan...

MADRID, 17 February 2016 — Strengthening protection and preparedness against cyber-attacks aimed at industrial control systems is the focus of a two-day table-top simulation starting today in Madrid and organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department with the support of Spain’s Interior Ministry...

COPENHAGEN, 17 February 2016 – The crisis of migrants and refugees in the OSCE area and efforts to strengthen the collective response will be the focus of debate and presentations at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Winter Meeting, held at the Hofburg Congress Centre in Vienna on 25-26 February...

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier attended the 52nd Munich Security Conference from 12 to 14 February 2016, where, on the margins of the event, he held a number of bilateral meetings with high-level state officials and heads of international institutions...

Berlin/Vienna, 16 February 2016 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier today expressed deep sadness as news of former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's passing was announced.

People all along the contact line wish the same – for the shooting to stop and peace to come, Principal Deputy Chief of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, stated during his visit to eastern Ukraine on 16 February 2016...

VIENNA, 16 February 2016 – Improving mutual relations among OSCE participating States and enabling information exchange among military representatives with the aim of building trust and confidence is the focus of the two-day High-Level Military Doctrine Seminar organized by the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC), which opened today in Vienna...

The establishment of independent certification of authorized Internet voting systems and the use of existing open standards are among the recommendations contained in a final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 18 October 2015 federal assembly elections in Switzerland.

The final recommendations of the Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security as a Common Project were discussed on 14 February 2016 on the margins of the 52nd Munich Security Conference, with Panel members joined by over 60 journalists and Conference participants to discuss perspectives for reconsolidating European security...

The SMM observed numerous ceasefire violations in Donetsk region; the majority of explosions were recorded in the evening/night hours. In Kominternove it heard small-arms fire impacting close to its position. In Luhansk region the Mission recorded a number of ceasefire violations, some of them assessed as training related. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair of critical infrastructure...

The OSCE Office in Tajikistan, the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry on 13 February 2016 opened a Public Council office in Khujand, the second-biggest city in Tajikistan, with the aim of contributing to the implementation of police reforms in the country...

BAJRAM CURRI, Albania, 16 February 2016 – The Tropoja District Court in northern Albania today presented the first results of the OSCE- and USAID-initiated Justice without delays project, which reveal significant improvements to the efficiency of the trial sessions...

The SMM observed a large number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and followed up on reports of shelling in government- and non-government-controlled areas. Residents on both sides of the contact line in Donetsk region told the Mission that they heard shelling almost every night. The Marinka checkpoint was temporarily closed due to fighting on 13 February, the Ukrainian Armed Forces told the SMM. The SMM observed long queues of civilians at checkpoints near the contact line. The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. In Mariupol the SMM observed 200 internally displaced persons calling for demining in Shyrokyne. In Lviv the Mission monitored a gathering of two hundred people marking the formation of the Falcon organization...

The first meeting of the ‘Follow Us’ Initiative for 2016, facilitated by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the OSCE Mission to Serbia, took place in Skopje from 12 to 14 February 2016. The meeting brought together 18 prominent women working in politics, media, academia and civil society from Prishtinë/Priština and Belgrade, to take stock of achievements and plan future activities...

The SMM observed numerous ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In Luhansk region, it recorded a number of ceasefire violations, some of them assessed as training related. The Mission continued to visit heavy weapons holding areas and permanent storage sites. The SMM encountered freedom-of-movement restrictions in areas not under government control.* If followed up on reports about bomb threats in Rivne region and a blockade of trucks with Russian Federation registration plates transiting Ukraine in Zakarpattia region.

The SMM observed numerous ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In Luhansk region the two ceasefire violations observed were attributed to training exercises. The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The Mission facilitated and monitored demining and repair works on both sides of the contact line. The SMM encountered freedom-of-movement restrictions.* It observed the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) and noted long queues of civilians at checkpoints along the line of contact. The Mission followed up on the situation of de-mobilized ATO veterans.

WASHINGTON, DC, 12 February 2016 – The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Ambassador Madina Jarbussynova, commended efforts by US Government and civil society in the fight against human trafficking at the end of her Official Country Visit on Friday.

VIENNA, 12 February 2016 – Media experts, journalists, diplomats, policymakers and government representatives gathered in Vienna today for an expert meeting to discuss the different aspects of the phenomenon of propaganda and its effects on media freedom and ultimately to the well-being of society...