News and press releases

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), Teresa Ribeiro, met today, 22 January 2021, with Ambassador Alexander Lukashevich to discuss the situation of freedom of expression and freedom of the media in the Russian Federation and the wider OSCE region.

KYIV, 21 January 2021 — The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Heidi Grau, made the following statement to the press after the regular meetings of the TCG and its Working Groups held through video conferencing:

Summary The SMM recorded seven ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded one ceasefire violation in the region. The Mission recorded no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it also recorded no ceasefire violations in

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), Teresa Ribeiro, met today, 21 January 2021, with Executive Director of the International Press Institute, Barbara Trionfi, to discuss the media freedom situation across the OSCE region.

SARAJEVO, 21 January 2021 – Swedish Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Johanna Strömquist and Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Kathleen Kavalec, presented the OSCE Swedish Chairpersonship 2021 priorities on 21 January in Sarajevo...

KYIV, 21 January 2021 — OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ann Linde, concluded a two-day official visit to Ukraine yesterday. She called on the sides to step up their efforts to find a sustainable peaceful resolution to the crisis in and around Ukraine.

Summary The SMM recorded one ceasefire violation in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 18 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded one ceasefire violation in the

Austria, Belarus and Portugal have renewed the mandates or, alternatively, appointed new members to the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration Court for new terms of six years after the previous mandates of their members expired.

VIENNA, 20 January 2021 — Fulfilling commitments and rebuilding confidence and transparency are key steps to addressing new and long-standing politico-military issues in the OSCE region, said United States Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Bureau Ambassador Philip T. Reeker in his video message to open the United States Chairpersonship of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) today.

High-level representatives from Tajikistan’s Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense (CoESCD), the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and the European Union Delegation to Tajikistan participated in the official start of renovation work on the CoESCD Training Centre on 19 January 2021 in Karatag, Shahrinav district. The renovation will turn the CoESCD Training Centre into a facility providing training where the Committee will be able to strengthen the capacity of responders on how to react to natural disasters in border regions.

Summary The SMM recorded 18 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 38 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded one ceasefire violation in Luhansk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded eight ceasefire violations in the region. The SMM

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 compared to the previous week.

Summary Between the evenings of 15 and 17 January, the SMM recorded 83 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 184 ceasefire violations in the region. Between the evenings of 15 and 17 January, the Mission recorded eight ceasefire violations in Luhansk

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), Teresa Ribeiro, met today, 18 January 2021, with Ambassador Jorge Lobo de Mesquita to discuss the situation of media freedom in Portugal.

COPENHAGEN, 18 January 2021 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights leaders today decried the detention of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny. In response to his arrest Sunday at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, the officers of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Chair Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (MP, Cyprus), Vice-Chair Michael Georg Link (MP, Germany), and Rapporteur Kari Henriksen (MP, Norway) issued the following joint statement:

Summary The SMM recorded 184 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 49 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it also recorded no ceasefire violations in the

Summary The SMM recorded 49 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 47 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 11 ceasefire violations in the

A regional train-the-trainers seminar is guiding twenty future facilitators (18 women, 2 men) in learning how to train women leaders in civil society to prevent violent extremism. The Action against Terrorism Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department organized the seminar in co-operation with OSCE field operations in Central Asia...

VIENNA, 15 January 2021- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde, announced today the appointments of her Special Representatives for 2021...

Summary The SMM recorded 47 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 76 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded 11 ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded no ceasefire violations in the

VIENNA/STOCKHOLM, 14 January 2021 — Over the coming year, the Swedish Chairpersonship will do its part to ensure that the OSCE can make a real difference on the ground and defend the principles on which the Organization was founded, said OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde in her virtual address to the Permanent Council today.

Summary The SMM recorded 76 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 50 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded six ceasefire violations in the

Summary The SMM recorded 50 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, including 36 explosions. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 33 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded six ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 16 ceasefire violations in

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 compared to the previous week...

Summary Between the evenings of 8 and 10 January, the SMM recorded 74 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 13 ceasefire violations in the region. Between the evenings of 8 and 10 January, the Mission recorded two ceasefire violations in Luhansk

BISHKEK, 11 January 2021 – Despite a large number of candidates and initiatives to improve the election process, the integrity of Kyrgyzstan’s early presidential election was weakened by a major imbalance in the outreach and visibility of the candidates as well as allegations of misuse of public resources, international observers to the presidential election said in a statement today.

NUR-SULTAN, 11 January 2021 – While preparations for Kazakhstan’s parliamentary elections were efficiently run, an uncompetitive campaign and systemic de facto limitations on constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms left voters without genuine choice, thus missing an opportunity to pilot the announced political reforms, international observers to the parliamentary elections said in a statement today.

Summary The SMM recorded 13 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 32 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded 23 ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 62 ceasefire violations in the region. The SMM

Summary Between the evenings of 5 and 7 January, the SMM recorded 57 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded ten ceasefire violations in the region. Between the evenings of 5 and 7 January, the Mission recorded 71 ceasefire violations in Luhansk region.

An OSCE-organized three-day online training on international co-operation and mutual legal assistance in asset recovery for beneficiaries in Albania concluded on 7 January 2021.

An OSCE-organized three-day online training on international co-operation and mutual legal assistance in asset recovery for beneficiaries in Albania concluded on 7 January 2021. The Office of the Coordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) and the Transnational Threats Department

On 5 January 2021, the OSCE Programme Office handed over a specialized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the East-Kazakhstan Regional Territorial Forestry and Wildlife Inspection during the signing of a loan agreement.

WARSAW, 7 January 2021 – Watching the increasingly disquieting events unfolding in the United States capital in recent hours following the November general elections, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) voices its concern regarding the integrity of the democratic process, and calls on all sides to keep to the principles of democracy and the rule of law.

Summary The SMM recorded ten ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded seven ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded 208 ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, the majority of them assessed as a live-fire exercise outside the security

BELGRADE, 5 January 2021 – Jan Braathu, a Norwegian career diplomat of ambassador rank, assumed his duties as Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia on 1 January 2021.

STOCKHOLM/VIENNA, 6 JANUARY 2021- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde and OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid called for a peaceful return to order and respect for the democratic process in Washington DC, in response to the developments in and around the Capitol Building.

Summary The SMM recorded seven ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 112 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded one ceasefire violation in Luhansk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded no ceasefire violations in the region. The SMM

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

COPENHAGEN, 5 January 2021 – Roberto Montella of Italy has begun a second five-year term as Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, following his re-election by the Assembly’s Standing Committee at the 2019 Luxembourg Annual Session.

Summary Between the evenings of 30 December 2020 and 3 January 2021, the SMM recorded 145 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and 68 ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. On 1 January, it

COPENHAGEN, 4 January 2021 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will deploy seven parliamentarians and staff from five countries to observe the parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan this Sunday. The PA’s observer team will focus its efforts in the capital, Nur-Sultan, and will work closely with long-term observers deployed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Altogether, the OSCE will have some 30 observers in the country.

Vienna/Stockholm, 1 January 2021 — Sweden takes over the OSCE Chair today, and will in the coming year focus on defending the European security order, addressing protracted conflicts and enhancing democracy and gender equality.

Summary The SMM recorded 20 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 58 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded 26 ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 37 ceasefire violations in the

COPENHAGEN, 31 December 2020 – As the 2020 OSCE Chairmanship comes to a close, the Chairperson-in-Office for the year, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, signed the Parliamentary Assembly’s “OSCE Call for Action.” In doing so, Rama joined his predecessors as well as other leaders of OSCE institutions, former Secretaries General and OSCE PA Presidents in calling for streamlining and refocusing OSCE activities to confront key challenges in fields where the Organization has deep expertise and a comparative advantage...

On 27 December 2020, four young people from the coastal region of Montenegro, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and Forum MNE, organized an online debate focused on young people as promoters of European values in Montenegro and Montenegrin values in Europe, as part of the “Leaders against Intolerance and Violent Extremism – LIVE” project...

Summary The SMM recorded 58 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 299 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded 37 ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded two ceasefire violations in the

Summary The SMM recorded 299 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 50 ceasefire violations in the region. The Mission recorded two ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded no ceasefire violations in the

To raise citizens’ awareness of the benefits women can bring to all sectors of policing, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, together with the country’s Police Directorate, announced on 29 December 2020 that they are launching a public information campaign called, “We are the power of the team — For more women in policing”...

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 compared to the previous week....

Summary Between the evenings of 23 and 27 December, the SMM recorded 130 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 41 ceasefire violations in the region. Between the evenings of 23 and 27 December, the SMM recorded 37 ceasefire violations in Luhansk