News and press releases

GENEVA, Switzerland, 11 October 2018 – The 45th round of the Geneva International Discussions took place on 10 October 2018.

SARAJEVO, 11 October 2018 –The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) supported the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Sarajevo and unions of social workers of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska at a conference dedicated to the education of social workers that concluded today in Sarajevo...

COPENHAGEN, 11 October 2018 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) has appointed Austrian parliamentarian Roman Haider to serve as the Assembly’s Special Representative on Central Asia...

At 8:59 on 10 October, an SMM patrol consisting of five members and two armoured vehicles was positioned on road H-20 approximately 1.5km south of Kamianka (government controlled, 20km north of Donetsk), and 3km north of the Donetsk Filtration Station.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region but fewer ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of casualties in Maiorove and Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM observed damage as a result of shelling in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. It continued monitoring all three disengagement areas, where its access remained restricted. The SMM’s access was also again restricted near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka and Verkhnoshyrokivske.* The SMM saw weapons in violation of the agreed withdrawal lines near Ocheretyne, Smolianynove and Metolkine. The Mission observed newly laid mines on both sides of the contact line. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM also facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the phenol sludge reservoir near Zalizne and to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema.

Enhancing responses to sexual and gender-based violence in Albania was the focus of a capacity building event that brought together police officers and civil society representatives in Tirana on 8 and 9 October 2018. The event was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human

The role of legal professionals in ensuring the adequate protection of national minorities’ rights, by way of fair and effective investigation and adjudication, especially in cases related to hate crime, was the focus of...