News and press releases

MINSK, 5 October 2017 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups in Minsk on 4 October 2017:

The SMM recorded overall fewer ceasefire violations, however, more explosions, in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM assessed damage to facilities at an entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote, and Petrivske, and recorded a calm situation in all three. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* In violation of the withdrawal lines, an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted a probable mortar in Mykolaivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of the thermal power plant in Shchastia, water pipelines in Zolote, a pumping station near Artema, and power lines near Novozvanivka. The Mission visited four border areas not under government control. The SMM monitored a peaceful gathering in Sievierodonetsk. It followed up on reports of a fire at a branch of Sberbank in Lviv.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Lamberto Zannier presented the first ever children’s illustrated Serbian-Albanian/Albanian-Serbian dictionary (Mali rečnik/Fjalor i vogël) to pupils in two primary schools in Bujanovac and Preševo today. Over the next three days, the dictionary

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...

On 3 October 2017, the 81st Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting was held in Ergneti. Ambassador Guenther Baechler, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, and Erik Hoeeg, Acting Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), co-facilitated the meeting.

ANDORRA LA VELLA, 3 October 2017 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 2017 Autumn Meeting, bringing together some 180 parliamentarians from across the OSCE’s 57 participating States, opened today in Andorra with addresses by the OSCE PA President, and the Speaker of Parliament and Prime Minister of Andorra...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous 24 hours and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The Mission followed up further on reports of civilian casualties in Mariupol and Shchastia. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote, and Petrivske, and recorded a calm situation in all three. Its access remained restricted in the three disengagement areas and in Boikovske. In violation of the withdrawal lines, an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted a tank behind a house in Verkhnoshyrokivske. The SMM visited a heavy weapons permanent storage site; it also observed weapons outside designated storage sites. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of the thermal power plant in Shchastia, water pipelines in Zolote, a pumping station near Artema, water wells near Krasnyi Lyman and the railway station in Verkhnotoretske. The Mission visited two border areas not under government control...