News and press releases

MINSK, 21 December – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Martin Sajdik made the following press statement after the meeting of the TCG and its Working Groups in Minsk on 21 December 2016.

BERLIN, 21 December 2016 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier today welcomed the declaration of the Trilateral Contact Group in which the sides recommitted to a comprehensive, sustainable and durable ceasefire starting from 24 December 2016 and reconfirmed their will to implement the Minsk agreements and to continue the Minsk process effectively in the year 2017.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the period between the evenings of 18 and 19 December. The SMM observed damage from fighting on 18 December, and followed up on reports of shelling and civilian casualties. The SMM continued monitoring the three disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and its access was again restricted.* The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs to essential infrastructure in Horlivka, Zolote, Orikhove and Krasnyi Lyman. It continued to observe long queues at entry-exit checkpoints along the contact line.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Marinka, and observed damage to a civilian house in Dokuchaievsk. The SMM was restricted in its movement in the three disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and recorded ceasefire violations in or around two of them.* The SMM monitored repairs to essential infrastructure in Artema and Zolote. The Mission monitored three border crossing points currently not under government control.

The impact that small, well-devised projects can have to effectively address hate crime and intolerance was at the centre of an event held in Kyiv on 2 December 2016. Participants discussed the results of five projects financed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and shared experiences and good practices to strengthen their efforts and co-operation with ODIHR and the local authorities.

Effective responses to sexual and gender-based violence was the topic of a train-the-trainers course in Odessa that brought together police educators and officers from all over Ukraine on 1 and 2 December 2016.

VIENNA, 1 December 2016 – In their fifth briefing to the OSCE Permanent Council this year, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group Martin Sajdik and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine Ertugrul Apakan yesterday focused on the need for a real normalization and stabilization in eastern Ukraine, particularly through the implementation of the Minsk agreements.