News and press releases

BUCHAREST, 5 May 2025 – The first round of Romania’s repeat presidential election was efficiently run and the rights to freedom of assembly and association were respected. However, widespread inauthentic behaviour online by candidates, the fragmented approach of the authorities to overseeing the online space, and a lack of transparency in decision-making had a negative impact on the election process, international observers said in a statement today.

From 22 to 24 April 2025, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, in co-operation with the Centre for Arms Control and Inspection Support and the Kazakhstan Peace Operations Centre (KAZCENT) of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and with the support of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, and the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, organized a three-day international seminar in Almaty to enhance understanding and implementation of the Vienna Document 2011 on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures.

VIENNA, 5 May 2025 – A vibrant civic space in which everyone contributes to public and political life is increasingly challenged by growing threats to freedom of peaceful assembly and severe challenges faced by human rights defenders through discreditation, criminalization, and direct attacks, OSCE leaders said as a two-day conference began today.

Sarajevo, 3 May 2025 – A free society depends on a free press.  In recognition of World Press Freedom Day, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mission) reaffirms its continued commitment to defending the fundamental right to free and independent journalism, as well as the corresponding

VIENNA, 2 May 2025 – Over 140 participants from OSCE Participating States, Partners for Co-operation, OSCE Institutions, civil society, and international organizations gathered in Vienna for the "Resilient Together in a Changing Climate" Chairpersonship Event, organized under Finland’s 2025 OSCE Chairpersonship on 28 to 29 April 2025.

On 30 April, over 50 representatives from Central Asia, South-East Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa gathered in Astana to share good practices and exchange experience related to prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration (PRR) of returnees from conflict zones. The meeting was co-organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Programme Office in Astana, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA).

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in co-operation with the Supreme Court of Montenegro and the Judicial Training Centre, hosted a three-day court simulation training aimed at strengthening institutional responses to violence against women and girls, with a particular focus on marital rape.