News and press releases

BELGRADE, 17 December 2021- At a ceremony held today in Belgrade, the OSCE Mission to Serbia presented its 2021 Persons of the Year Award to: Vladimira Dorčova-Valtnerova, Founder and Editor in Chief of Storyteller.rs, from Maglić, and the Voluntary Firefighting Association of Požega. As the recognition of the 2020 Person of the Year Award was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on this occasion the OSCE Mission honoured last year’s recipients: Ivanka Jovanović, Executive Director of the National Organisation of Persons with Disabilities of Serbia (NOOIS), and Biljana Stepanov, Director of the Centre for Support of Women from Kikinda.

On the morning of 17 December, the armed formations in Luhansk region twice denied the Mission passage to non-government-controlled areas. The SMM patrols were travelling from government-controlled areas...

New guidelines to help organize joint classes for students learning in different languages of instruction were promoted in Skopje today, as part of the OSCE Mission to Skopje’s efforts to increase integrated education in North Macedonia.

Seventeen directors from the OSCE-supported Women’s Resource Centres (WRCs), of which twelve are women, learned how to successfully manage projects and raise funds to ensure sustainability in their WRCs at a training course in Dushanbe. The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe organized the course, which took place from 13 to 17 December 2021.

An online seminar on improving the investment climate by developing public-private partnerships (PPPs) was organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat on 16 and 17 December 2021.

On 15 December 2021, a meeting dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Mobile Police Receptions (MPR) entitled "Activities of MPR units and social partnership with the population" took place at the Academy of the Ministry of the Interior of the Kyrgyz Republic.

WARSAW, 17 December 2021- As the world nears the end of a second year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, we see clearly that its impact has hit the most vulnerable hardest, with many migrants who were already facing challenges to access their basic rights now having greater difficulty in accessing employment, education, housing, and even the right to international protection, said the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights on the eve of International Migrants Day.

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 257 ceasefire violations, including 123 explosions. Of these, 154 were assessed as live-fire training exercises. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 444 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 81 ceasefire

The 2021 parliamentary elections in Cyprus were governed by the legal framework that generally provided for the conduct of democratic elections; however, the legislation remains overly complex and requires comprehensive review. While the party finance legislation was amended to enhance

A three-day online training course on “Strengthening Capacities of the Service on Countering Illicit Drug Trafficking of the Ministry of Interior of the Kyrgyz Republic in Combating the Spread of Illicit Drugs Facilitated by the Internet” concluded on 15 December 2021 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Four OSCE diplomats received the OSCE’s White Ribbon award for their work promoting gender equality. The awards went to Annika Söder (Sweden), Marina Wyss (Switzerland), Fiel Vanthemsche (Belgium) and Sebastian Gahnström (Finland). The winners were announced in Vienna on 9 December and the awards were handed over at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on 16 December 2021.

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Presence in Albania jointly organized the online training course “Implementing Intelligence-Led Policing on Strategic and Operational Levels” on 9 and 10 December.

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 444 ceasefire violations, including 89 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 127 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 104 ceasefire violations, including 14 explosions. In the previous reporting

On the morning of 15 December, the armed formations in Luhansk region twice denied, and once delayed, the Mission’s passage to government-controlled areas from non-government-controlled areas...

VIENNA, 15 December 2021 – Building trust, improving military transparency, countering the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons, and improving the participation of women in the armed forces were at the centre of Austria’s Chairpersonship of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC). This was the message emphasized by Dieter Kandlhofer, Secretary General of the Austrian Ministry of Defence, at the last meeting held under the Austrian FSC Chair.

The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan handed over 200 devices for verifying travel document authenticity to the Border Service of the Committee for the National Security of Kazakhstan. The signing of the donation agreement was held on 13 December 2021 in Nur-Sultan. The Border Service will use the devices to identify forged travel documents during border control procedures in border crossing points across the country.

The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan, in co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, organised a Young Policy Advisers Course (PolAd) from 22 to 26 November 2021 in Nur-Sultan.

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 127 ceasefire violations, including 11 explosions. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 164 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 126 ceasefire violations, including 18 explosions. In the previous 24 hours, it

An OSCE-supported online public discussion on "Analysis of the problem of gender inequality in Kazakhstan" was conducted online on 2 December 2021. The event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan as a part of the international campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” in co-operation with the MediaNet International Centre for Journalism.

Committed to advancing participation of youth in crime prevention efforts, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities — together with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) — launched the project “Enhancing Youth Crime and Drug Use Prevention through Education on Legality and Awareness Campaigns Addressing Threats of Organized Crime and Corruption” on 13 December 2021.

Despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governing Board of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), under Montenegro’s presidency, delivered their programme for youth in the region in 2021. As it prepares for 2022, RYCO will continue to build up its effectiveness and visibility to provide more opportunities for youth.

The 1st International Forum of Business Ombudspersons “Strengthening Interregional Cooperation and Integrity in Business Sphere” was held in Tashkent on December 14, 2021. The Forum was organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan jointly with the Commissioner under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities (Business Ombudsman).

A high-level conference on raising awareness on gender inequalities and corruption took place on 10 December 2021, in hybrid format in Tirana. Organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania, the event marked the end of Integrity Week in Albania, which raised awareness of the opportunities that gender-specific approaches to fighting corruption offer to boost socio-economic growth, security, and to consolidate democracy.

“Enforced and involuntary disappearances in dictatorship and authoritarian past and contemporary settings: a social, legal and historical appraisal of transitional and transformation polices and mechanisms,” was the topic of an international conference held in Tirana and online, from 13 to 15 December 2021.

Summary In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 10 and 12 December, the SMM recorded 211 ceasefire violations, including 30 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 842 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, between the evenings of 10 and 12 December, the Mission

On the morning of 13 December, the armed formations in Luhansk region twice denied the Mission’s passage to non-government-controlled areas. The SMM patrols were travelling from government-controlled areas...

The OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) concluded its 30th Staff Course, held in a blended format, on 10 December 2021 with the physical presence of the majority of participants in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The 7th Annual Conference of the Kyrgyz Association of Women Judges on "Increasing the level of independence of judges as a way to counter corruption" took place on 10 and 11 December in Bishkek.

On 9 December 2021, the OSCE launched the regional project ‘Enhancing Criminal Justice Capacities for Combating Gender-based Violence in South-Eastern Europe’.

STOCKHOLM/VIENNA, 12 December 2021 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid made the following statement regarding the decision taken on Friday in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) by the Republika Srpska National Assembly (RSNA) to take further steps in the direction of unilateral withdrawal from transfer agreements from the entities to the State.

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 842 ceasefire violations, including 78 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 1,463 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded eight ceasefire violations, including one explosion. In the previous

On the morning of 11 December, the armed formations in Luhansk region twice denied, and once delayed, the Mission’s passage to government-controlled areas...

An OSCE-supported online Forum of Defense Lawyers concluded on 19 November 2021. The event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan in co-operation with the Republican Collegium of Advocates and the Legal Policy Research Centre.

An OSCE-supported two-day XII Internet Forum “Development of the Internet sphere in Central Asia” was concluded on 19 November 2021 in Almaty. The event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan in co-operation with the MediaNet International Centre for Journalism and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

Today the OSCE Mission in Kosovo concluded a week of training exercises on combating environmental crime for police officers, prosecutors, judges, municipal officials, and representatives from the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development.

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 1,463 ceasefire violations, including 142 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 815 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 161 ceasefire violations, including 97 explosions. In the previous

The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat conducted an online lecture series to support the education of future diplomats in Turkmenistan, which concluded today in Ashgabat.

Forensic science plays an increasingly larger role in criminal investigations. Joint forensic work on projects and cases with a regional character are crucial in combating organized crime. This was the conclusion of the sixth annual regional meeting of forensic centres, held in hybrid format, in Podgorica on 9 and 10 December 2021.

Ensuring protection and promotion of rights of persons with disabilities was the focus of an OSCE supported online roundtable discussion concluded on 3 December 2021. The aim was to discuss issues related to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) in Kazakhstan.

A five-day OSCE-supported training course on internet investigations and open source intelligence gathering (OSINT) for criminal justice practitioners from the five Central Asian OSCE participating States concluded on 10 December 2021.

Five representatives from the Republic of Armenia’s police and Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Justice Kristin Grigoryan participated in a two-and-a-half day study visit, organized by the OSCE Strategic Police Matters Unit and hosted by the Swedish Police Authority, Police Region Stockholm.

WASHINGTON/ANKARA/VIENNA,10 DECEMBER 2021- As we mark International Human Rights Day, much of the world is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. A new variant and increased cases have led many OSCE participating States to reimpose restrictions reminiscent of the conditions under which we commemorated this important anniversary a year ago. The pandemic has exacerbated our task of preserving and defending human rights around the world. It has further widened the political and partisan divides and fueled conspiracy theories that target minorities and persons in vulnerable situations. Some nations, while citing the necessity of measures to control the spread of the virus, have used it as a pretext for disproportionate security responses and repressive measures that undermine human rights, including the freedom of religion or belief.

WARSAW, 10 December 2021 – As the world continues to struggle with the Covid-19 pandemic and the rising polarization and intolerance that has accompanied it, today’s Human Rights Day reminds us that that all countries across the OSCE have recognized that human rights are the birthright of all human beings, are inalienable, and are guaranteed by law, said the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

KYIV, 9 December 2021 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Mikko Kinnunen, made the following statement to the press after the extraordinary meeting of the TCG held through video conferencing:

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 815 ceasefire violations, including 146 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 145 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 32 ceasefire violations, including ten explosions. In the previous reporting

At 08:12 on 9 December, at a checkpoint near Olenivka (non-government-controlled, 23km south-west of Donetsk), Donetsk region, a member of the armed formations delayed the passage of an SMM patrol with Deputy Chief Monitor Mark Etherington on board...

On the morning of 9 December, the armed formations in Luhansk region denied the SMM passage to non-government-controlled areas twice. The SMM patrols were travelling from government-controlled areas...

To help improve border security of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to BiH, held a training course on identifying forged travel documents for instructors at the Agency for Education and Professional Training of the BiH Ministry of Security, from 6 to 10 December 2021 in Mostar.

On the eve of International Human Rights Day, on 9 December 2021 the OSCE Presence in Albania organized a regional roundtable discussion for equality bodies and independent human rights institutions. Representatives from the Western Balkans discussed, in the hybrid-format meeting, their role and interactions with respect to judicial proceedings.

An online seminar on how to make the work of Aarhus Centres sustainable was organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat on December 9, 2021. Its participants presented best practices from OSCE participating States in implementing effective approaches for making them sustainable, taking into account their legal status