News and press releases

The OSCE Moscow Mechanism mission of experts undertaken by Professor Wolfgang Benedek, Professor Veronika Bílková and Professor Marco Sassòli presented their findings to the OSCE Permanent Council on 13 April 2022, collected in the report entitled ‘Report On Violations Of International Humanitarian And Human Rights Law, War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity Committed In Ukraine Since 24 February 2022’.

VIENNA, 7 April 2022 – OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid has warned of the serious environmental damages caused by continued fighting in Ukraine, and their long-term effects across the region.

KYIV/VIENNA, 4 April 2022 – International assistance to Ukraine is urgently needed to strengthen the country’s capacity in humanitarian demining and Explosive Ordnance Risk Education. This was the main message by Ambassador Henrik Villadsen, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, today as he marked the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

BELGRADE, 4 April 2022 – Fundamental freedoms were largely respected in Serbia’s 3 April presidential and early parliamentary elections, and voters were presented diverse political options, but a number of shortcomings resulted in an uneven playing field, favouring the incumbents, international observers said in a statement today. The combined impact of unbalanced access to the media, undue pressure on public sector employees to support the incumbents, significant campaign finance disparities and misuse of state resources resulted in unequal conditions for contestants, the statement says...

Eight prominent women politicians from the Alliance of Women Parliamentarians of Tajikistan have helped promote the issue of gender mainstreaming in a study visit to Skopje, North Macedonia. The event was part of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe’s support to gender mainstreaming, and was jointly organized with the OSCE Mission to Skopje from 29 March to 1 April 2022.  

Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office regulated the manner of documenting of criminal offences targeting persons who perform duties of importance to the public in the area of information dissemination, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. A prosecutor was selected to serve as a point of contact and coordinate with associations of journalists and law enforcement agencies involved in investigating and prosecuting these types of criminal offences. The Office of the Chief Prosecutor will perform oversight to ensure that these cases are handled efficiently and as a matter of priority.

A three-day train-the-trainer course on countering terrorist financing (CFT) through investigations for North Macedonia concluded on 31 March 2022 in Vienna. The course was organized by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, jointly with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and with the support of the OSCE Mission to Skopje. It aimed at strengthening the capacity of officials from North Macedonia to co-operate in conducting efficient CFT investigations.