News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Opening the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Geneva, Swiss Chair says collective effort needed to restore stability and rebuild common understanding of European security
Publishing date: 3 October 2014
GENEVA, 3 October 2014- Didier Burkhalter, Swiss Foreign Minister and Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE, gave an opening address to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which is meeting in Geneva for its autumn session this weekend. Recalling that the ‘Helsinki Final Act’ was negotiated in the very same conference building in Geneva four decades ago, he argued that the vision and determination of the CSCE founding fathers should be an inspiration to all to embark on collective efforts to overcome the current crisis of European security...
Spot report by OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), 2 October 2014: ICRC Staff Member Killed in Shelling in Donetsk City
Publishing date: 3 October 2014
An ICRC staff member – a Swiss national – was killed in shelling whilst apparently standing outside the front door of the ICRC office in Donetsk city on 2 October...
Truce too important for stabilization to be carelessly put at risk, Swiss OSCE Chair says after new outbreak of violence
Publishing date: 2 October 2014
BERN, 2 October 2014 – Appalled by the killing of ten persons in a school during shelling yesterday in Donetsk, and by the violent death of a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation today, Swiss Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Didier Burkhalter, urged all sides to immediately stop fighting, to strictly observe the ceasefire and to implement the measures agreed upon in the Minsk Protocol of September 5 and the related Memorandum of September 19. He expressed his condolences to the families of the many men, women and children who lost their lives due to the violent conflict...
Spravedlivost receives Max van der Stoel Award 2014 for improving position of national minorities in OSCE area
Publishing date: 2 October 2014
THE HAGUE, 2 October 2014 – Spravedlivost, a Kyrgyzstan-based NGO, was today presented with the Max van der Stoel Award for its work to improve the position of national minorities in the OCSE area...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 1 October 2014
Publishing date: 2 October 2014
In Donetsk city shelling on a residential area caused civilian casualties near a school.
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 30 September 2014
Publishing date: 1 October 2014
The SMM continued to monitor the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions focusing on the implementation of the Minsk Protocol/Memorandum. In the city of Donetsk and surrounding areas, the overall situation was generally tense...
Weekly update from the OSCE Observer Mission at Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk based on information as of 08:00 (Moscow time), on 1 October 2014
Publishing date: 1 October 2014
KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKY, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) is operating at full capacity. Cross-border traffic flows remained steady at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs) and the total number of border-crossings has slightly increased. Similar to the previous week, more people left the Russian Federation (RF) for Ukraine at the two observed BCPs. Regular local and long-distance bus connections are now operating between cities in the RF and the Luhansk region. The OM observed again considerable numbers of persons in camouflage clothing crossing the border...