News and press releases

COPENHAGEN, 1 October 2014 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 2014 Autumn Meeting, bringing together more than 450 participants from more than 50 countries, opens Friday, 3 October in Geneva, Switzerland...

The SMM continued to monitor the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions focusing on the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol/Memorandum. While the situation remained calm in the Luhansk region, the SMM observed ongoing fighting at Donetsk International airport and heard sporadic shelling in Donetsk northern sectors (Avdiivka). The SMM also heard artillery and mortar fire in the north-eastern sectors of Mariupol (Sartana and Oktaybr). The SMM monitored a simultaneous release of prisoners between the Ukrainian forces and representatives of “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”). In Kharkiv the situation remained calm in the hours which followed the toppling of the local Lenin statue.

The SMM continued to monitor the situation in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, where it observed and received reports of shelling in a number of locations, including Shchastya and Donetsk city. In Kharkiv the SMM observed a pro-Ukrainian unity rally which culminated in the removal of a statue of Lenin from one of the city’s central squares...

Two incidents involving explosions occurred in Kharkiv on 25 September; the SMM visited both sites. The first explosion occurred in the Komintern district at 02:30hrs at the office of a lawyer who is also an independent candidate in the legislative elections as well as a pro-unity activist. The police confirmed that the explosion resulted from an RPG...

New York, September 26, 2014- On the margins of the UN-General Assembly in New York, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter launched a discussion on how to overcome the crisis of European security that has deepened in the face of the crisis in and around Ukraine. At today’s informal meeting attended by more than 25 foreign ministers and representatives of around 35 OSCE participating States as well as representatives of partner States and security organizations, Burkhalter sketched out three avenues towards reconsolidating European security as a common project and invited participants to outline their views on how best to proceed.

KYIV, 26 September 2014- The Trilateral Contact Group of senior representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office held a video conference on 25 September with representatives of self-proclaimed entities in Donetsk.

The SMM continued to monitor the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions focusing on the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol/Memorandum, noting, in particular, intense shelling around the airport in Donetsk city...