ODIHR Ukraine Civil Society Project opens with lecture by Director Link and panel discussion on civil society, democracy and human rights
KYIV, 23 April 2015 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), will deliver a public lecture, to be followed by a panel discussion, at the launch event for an ODIHR project to support and enhance the role of civil society in the current environment of change and transition in Ukraine....
REMINDER: Chief Monitor in Ukraine to report to OSCE Permanent Council
VIENNA, 23 April 2015 – Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan will report today to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on the situation on the ground and activities carried out by the Mission in responding to the crisis. Apakan’s report to the OSCE decision making body will cover the...
US-backed Criminal Slaughter in Yemen Revealed
Former UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, has given an undiplomatic assessment of the crisis in that country, in which he rhetorically explodes Saudi myths “justifying” the US-backed aerial bombing campaign. The Moroccan diplomat told media at the weekend that the ongoing conflict was a direct result of Houthi rebels having been excluded from the...
Strengthening nuclear stability in turbulent times
The Ukraine crisis and broader deterioration in relations between Russia and the West has created a heightened danger of unintended clashes between Russian and NATO military forces, and continues to deflate hopes for near-term progress on nuclear arms control. At the same time, arms control efforts could serve as a critical means of preventing...
Ukraine’s Ineffectual Information Ministry: Underfunded or Misconceived?
Informational warfare has been a critical part of Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine. As Russian military reporter and veteran of the Russia’s two wars in Chechnya, Arkadiy Babchenko, argues, “I believe this [the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war] is the first war in the entire history triggered solely by Goebbels-style propaganda. Had...
Politically Independent Cossacks Warned About Becoming Labeled ‘US Agents’
Mikhail Vederinkov, the presidential plenipotentiary for the North Caucasus Federal District, told a meeting of senior Cossack officials that they must clear any candidates for the position of ataman (chieftain) with him in advance or face charges that they are agents of the US Department of State (Gorodskoitelegraf.ru, April 14). Vederinkov said...
OSCE Representative calls for immediate investigation of death threats against journalists in Skopje
VIENNA, 22 April 2015 –OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today called on the authorities to immediately investigate last night’s death threat against the editor of NOVA TV Borjan Jovanovski and his family. “This horrendous act adds to the already fragile media environment situation in the country and sends yet...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30 (Kyiv time), 21 April 2015
The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations, with SMM patrols restricted from moving freely in government-controlled areas around Mariupol and in areas under “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”)...
The Disintegration Of The World
Image credit: pedrosek, ShutterstockOther Mediaquoting Michael McFaulvia The Atlantic“Was ExxonMobil worried about a skirmish in Georgia? I doubt it, but now companies like that one care a lot about the details of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The conflict in Donetsk is being closely watched day by day by multinational corporations and is...
Russia needs a Middle East crisis: Will delivering S-300s to Iran help?
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision on lifting the ban on delivering to Iran the S-300 surface-to-air missiles took many experts by surprise, but U.S. President Barack Obama noted with perfect indifference that for him the only surprise was “that it held this long.” In fact, Putin’s timing was impeccable, since nobody could...
