News and press releases

MOSCOW / PARIS / WASHINGTON D.C., 13 July 2020- The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) , released the following statement today:

VIENNA / TIRANA, 12 July 2020 – Albania’s OSCE Chairmanship has announced the opening of procedures for the selection of candidates to the positions of OSCE Secretary General, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the High Commissioner on National Minorities, and the Representative on Freedom of the Media. The Chairmanship expresses regret that the 57 participating States could not reach consensus on the reappointment of the four officials currently holding these positions...

TIRANA/VIENNA, 11 July 2020 – Paying his respects to the Bosnian victims of the Srebrenica genocide in 1995, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said today that in remembering this atrocious crime, we must go beyond commemoration and words, and actively learn the lessons...

VIENNA, 10 July 2020 – “Srebrenica today is an example of resilience, truth and justice for the world. We all stand with you, the survivors and families of the victims, in solidarity and in sorrow, and we humbly pay our respects to your loved ones,” said Chair of the OSCE Permanent Council Igli Hasani and OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger today, honouring the victims of the Srebrenica genocide in 1995...

COPENHAGEN, 9 July 2020 – The Vice-Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, Michael Georg Link (Germany), and Secretary General Roberto Montella discussed today with European Parliament member Nacho Sanchez Amor the need for increased efforts by parliaments to combat fake election observation activities. The practice of state authorities and their proxy organizations arranging visits for international actors outside of the institutional international election observation platforms organized under the auspices of the OSCE/ODIHR, OSCE PA, PACE, NATO PA and the European Parliament is a growing challenge, they said...

COPENHAGEN, 9 July 2020 – Responding to reports that executions are set to resume on the federal level in the United States for the first time since 2003, the leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee renewed calls for universal abolition of the death penalty. Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (Cyprus), Michael Link (Germany), and Kari Henriksen (Norway), the Chair, Vice-Chair and Rapporteur, respectively, of the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, regretted the decision and urged the U.S. government to reconsider.

KYIV, 9 July 2020 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Heidi Grau, made the following statement to the press after the regular meetings of the TCG and its Working Groups held through video conferencing:...