News and press releases

The importance of civil registration and personal identification documents and the negative effects on Roma in Ukraine who lack these documents were the focus of an expert seminar organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in co-operation with the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights in Kyiv on 19 and 20 November 2015.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded a significant increase in ceasefire violations. Live-fire training continued in close proximity to the contact line, on both sides of it.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”, including the Addendum. Its monitoring was restricted by the parties and security considerations*.The security situation remained volatile in parts of Donbas, in particular around Donetsk airport where the SMM recorded 145 explosions. In Luhansk region a number of training-related ceasefire violations were recorded.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”, including the Addendum. Its monitoring was restricted by the parties and security considerations*. On 15 November, the SMM observed a significant increase in the number of explosions and gunfire from its position at Donetsk railway station. The SMM received a number of reports about fatalities in shelling and mine incidents elsewhere in Donetsk region. It followed up on reports about three incidents involving explosives in Uzhhorod. The SMM observed no security incidents in relation to the second round of local elections which took place on 15 November.

KYIV, 16 November 2015 – The second round of Ukraine’s mayoral elections saw business interests influencing the process in most contests, and many candidates focusing their efforts on local coalition building more than on reaching out to voters, observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Elections and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded in a statement issued today. There was little active campaigning. In a positive development, debates were organized between candidates in a number of regions, the observers said...

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Astrid Thors visited Ukraine from 2 to 6 November 2015, including trips to Kyiv as well as Mariupol, where she assessed the inter-ethnic situation in south-eastern Ukraine. In Kyiv, Thors discussed the status of modernizing the institutional

COPENHAGEN, 5 November 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) today expressed concern about the recent uptick in violence in eastern Ukraine and called on all parties to the conflict to do their utmost to promote conditions conducive to a political settlement...