News and press releases

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and by security considerations* – observed that fighting continued north of Donetsk airport and in areas in and around Shyrokyne, east of Mariupol...

On 25 March 2015 the 53rd meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti, co-facilitated by Kęstutis Jankauskas, the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), and Ambassador Angelo Gnaedinger, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-office for the South Caucasus...

KYIV, 25 March 2015- There is an urgent need to enhance the capacities of Ukraine to address the issue of gender-based violence adequately, said the OSCE Senior Gender Adviser, Ambassador Miroslava Beham, as she concluded a three-day assessment mission to the country...

Elections experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) met with electoral stakeholders in Sofia on 24 and 25 March 2015 to present recommendations from the final report on the 5 October 2014 early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Astrid Thors and the Ukrainian authorities discussed their concerns about human rights violations in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine, during Thors’ visit to Kyiv and Kharkiv from 16 to 20 March 2015. Thors has been concerned about reports of

TIRANA, 24 March 2015- About 6,300 police officers across Albania will be trained on their role in the electoral process during a series of training courses which started today in Tirana and will run to the end of April. The training, which is organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania, in partnership with the Albanian State Police, and with the support of the Central Election Commission and the General Prosecutor’s office, comes ahead of the 21 June local elections...

Domestic and international human rights instruments to fight discrimination were the focus of a one-day workshop organized for lawyers and human rights defenders by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, in co-operation with the Council of Europe and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, on 20 March 2015 in Yerevan.