News and press releases

An OSCE-organized online seminar on digitalization of customs and transport procedures in compliance with the international standards, the UN conventions and agreements for representatives from the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, transport agencies and other relevant institutions opened on 22 September 2020 in Ashgabat...

Summary Between the evenings of 18 and 20 September, the SMM recorded no ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 12 ceasefire violations in the region. Between the evenings of 18 and 20 September, the Mission recorded in total four ceasefire violations

In preparation for the fifth Regional Youth Co-operation Office (RYCO) Call for Proposals, the RYCO Local Branch Office and the OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized a training course for potential applicants from 18 to 20 September 2020 in Podgorica...

The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan, in co-operation with the National Commission for Women, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan, the UN Women Office in Kazakhstan, and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) organized an online event for women politicians and those that aspire to become politically active, from 16 to 19 September 2020...

Summary The SMM recorded 12 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded two ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. The SMM followed up on reports that a man died from the detonation of an explosive

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) supported Maglaj Municipality in organizing a sitting volleyball tournament on 19 September 2020 in Maglaj...

VIENNA/BELGRADE, 18 September 2020 – The seventh South-East Europe Media Conference entitled “The New Frontline: Working together to Foster Media Freedom”, organized jointly by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) and the OSCE Mission to Serbia, in collaboration with OSCE field operations from South-East Europe, concluded today...

Summary The SMM recorded two ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 14 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and one in Luhansk region. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote

An OSCE-supported one-day training webinar on fighting financial pyramids and practical aspects of improving the financial literacy of the general population concluded on 18 September 2020...

Seventeen OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s so-called Moscow Mechanism on 17 September 2020. Seventeen OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism on 17 September 2020 to examine alleged human rights violations in Belarus. The Moscow Mechanism, last invoked in 2018 in

TASHKENT, 18 September 2020- The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) launches an infodemic toolkit (https://infodemictoolkit.org/en/) for media professionals to counter myths and fake information related to COVID-19. It is available in Uzbek, Russian and English.

Summary The SMM recorded 14 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and one in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded no ceasefire violations in either Donetsk or Luhansk region. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and

KYIV, 17 September 2020 – 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...

COPENHAGEN, 16 September 2020 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s webinar today, entitled “From the Arctic to Global: The Political Role in addressing Climate Change,” featured the participation of some 50 parliamentarians and experts for a discussion on the effects of climate change in the Arctic and beyond. The PA’s Special Representative on Arctic Issues, Norwegian parliamentarian Torill Eidsheim, opened the event, followed by keynote addresses by the Arctic Council’s Adalheidur Thorsteinsdottir, the UN’s Daniele Violetti, and Prof. Tore Furevik, Director of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research...

Summary The SMM recorded no ceasefire violations in either Donetsk or Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded four ceasefire violations in Donetsk and none in Luhansk region. The SMM followed up on reports of a man injured by an explosive object while working in a field in

At 10:20 on 15 September, during a scheduled maintenance of its camera system located near Berezove (government-controlled, 31km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM saw that the power cable located in the meter box that provided the camera with electricity was disconnected and that the system was

SARAJEVO, 16 September 2020 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) presented today in Sarajevo the report by Judge Joanna Korner on war crimes processing at the state level in Bosnia and Herzegovina...

An OSCE-supported 6-day intensive workshop on the “Activities of state bodies during state of emergencies and emergency situations: interaction and problems. The role of women employees during emergencies", concluded today, 16 September, in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan...

VIENNA, 15 September 2020 – We need to strengthen partnerships between governments, civil society and the private sector in efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism and radicalization that leads to terrorism (VERLT), participants of the 2020 OSCE Chairmanship Counter-Terrorism Conference concluded at the end of the two-day meeting in Vienna today...

Summary The SMM recorded four ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded none in Donetsk region and seven in Luhansk region. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. During

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...

WARSAW, 15 September 2020 – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put democracies to their biggest test in decades, people are increasingly appreciating the vital importance of participating in societies where their voices and concerns are heard, said the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on today’s International Day of Democracy...

Around 30 law enforcement officials from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia will participate on 15 and 16 September 2020 in an online module on Intelligence-Led Policing (ILP) organized by the OSCE with the support of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL)...

An OSCE-organized online seminar “The use of innovative technologies as a key to rational water management” opened on 15 September 2020 in Ashgabat.

Summary Between the evenings of 11 and 12 September, the SMM recorded no ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and 12 in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded seven ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and one in Luhansk region. Between the evenings of 12 and 13

VIENNA, 14 September 2020 – Parliamentarians play a crucial role in promoting international co-operation and championing a whole-of-society approach in countering and preventing terrorism including during the pandemic, Austrian parliamentarian Reinhold Lopatka said at the 2020 OSCE-wide Counter-Terrorism Conference in Vienna today.

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe started a four-week training course for 20 staff members of Tajikistan’s Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence (CoESCD) on 14 September.

PARIS, 14 September 2020 – The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) held intensive consultations in Paris on September 14. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (PRCiO) Andrzej Kasprzyk also participated in the meetings.

The OSCE-supported annual Central Asian Leadership Programme began on 14 September 2020 in Almaty.

Summary The SMM recorded seven ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and one in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded five ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. The Mission followed up on reports of four people injured on four separate occasions

Summary The SMM recorded five ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, it recorded no ceasefire violations in either Donetsk or Luhansk region. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and

VIENNA/WARSAW, 11 September 2020 – OSCE participating States today unanimously decided that the OSCE’s annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) will exceptionally not take place in 2020, due to the unique, unprecedented and unpredictable circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The consensus decision, taken by the OSCE Permanent Council, does not establish any precedent for the organization of the HDIM in the future...

Summary The SMM recorded no ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded one ceasefire violation in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region.   The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and

PRAGUE, 10 September 2020 – “Corruption shrinks tax revenue, distorts markets, hampers trade and investment and deepens inequalities. Every time illegal private gain wins out against the public good, it weakens our social fabric. Our objective is nothing short of zero tolerance for corruption,” said Albania’s Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania Gent Cakaj, while opening the 2020 OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum today in Prague...

Summary The SMM recorded one ceasefire violation in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded no ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and 50 in Luhansk region. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska,

VIENNA, 9 September 2020 – Only a real dialogue will help promote politico-military co-operation and regain lost confidence and rebuild trust, said Germany’s Deputy Foreign Minister Niels Annen as he opened Germany’s Chairmanship of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) today.

KYIV, 9 September 2020 – 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 extraordinary meeting of the TCG held through video conferencing:..

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...

VIENNA, 8 September 2020 – International co-operation and multilateral approaches are needed to maintain resilience and stability of the cyber-ICT environment, concluded participants of the high-level conference of the OSCE Albanian Chairmanship that ended today in Vienna.

Summary The SMM recorded no ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and 50 in Luhansk region. In the previous 24 hours, the Mission recorded one ceasefire violation in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. Small arms were fired near SMM patrol members close to Peremozhne, Luhansk region. The

The OSCE and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) held a roundtable discussion on enhancing cyber resilience of intelligent transport systems for both private and public sectors on 8 September 2020 in Geneva...

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, organized an online train-the-trainer course aimed at strengthening Uzbekistan’s capacity to investigate terrorist financing. The event was held on 7 and 8 September 2020.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro delivered 21 laptops and three professional cameras to the Faculty of Political Sciences’ Journalism Department on 8 September 2020, in Podgorica. The delivery is part of the Mission’s activities aimed at strengthening the practical and hands-on teaching of journalism at the University of Montenegro...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights’ Department for Gender Equality organized a virtual workshop for municipal Gender Focal Points’ network on monitoring, evaluation and report writing, from 2 to 4 September 2020...

Summary Between the evenings of 4 and 5 September, the SMM recorded an undetermined explosion in Donetsk region and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded 12 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. Between the

Some 20 representatives of the media, academia, international organizations, journalists and bloggers took part in an OSCE-supported online seminar on conflict-sensitive reporting. The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan organized the event on 7 September 2020.

An OSCE-supported half-day training webinar on prosecution for money laundering and best practices in forensic investigation concluded on 7 September 2020 in Nur-Sultan...

VIENNA/PRAGUE, 7 September 2020 – Preventing and combating corruption through innovation, increased transparency and digitalization while promoting security, stability and economic growth in the OSCE region will be the focus of the first ever “blended” Concluding Meeting of the 28th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, which opens on Thursday, 10 September 2020, in Prague...

BISHKEK, 7 September 2020 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened a limited election observation mission (LEOM) for the 4 October parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, following an invitation from the national authorities.

Summary The SMM recorded 12 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and none in Luhansk region. In the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded five ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and 23 in Luhansk region. A woman was injured by the explosion of an object in Sloviansk, Donetsk region.