News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Press Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
Publishing date: 16 January 2019
PARIS, 16 January 2019- 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) hosted consultations between Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on 16 January in Paris. The Co-Chairs met separately and then jointly with the Ministers. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk also participated in these meetings. This was the fourth meeting of the two Ministers.
Switzerland to bring new perspective to politico-military issues during Forum for Security Co-operation Chairmanship, says State Secretary Baeriswyl
Publishing date: 16 January 2019
VIENNA, 16 January 2019 – Switzerland aims to bring a new perspective to established and current politico-military issues, said the State Secretary of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Pascale Baeriswyl, as she opened the country’s Chairmanship of the Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) in Vienna today. Baeriswyl added that Switzerland will engage in dedicated discussions and constructive debates to achieve more confidence and transparency on politico-military issues amongst all 57 OSCE participating States...
OSCE PA human rights leaders urge focus on the safety of journalists
Publishing date: 14 January 2019
COPENHAGEN, 14 January 2019 – With the persistence of a dangerous climate for journalists in many countries of the OSCE region, the leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, Chair Margareta Kiener Nellen (MP, Switzerland), Vice-Chair Michael Georg Link (MP, Germany), and Rapporteur Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (MP, Cyprus), today called for increased attention to the importance of the safety of journalists. Recent developments demonstrate that journalists have been facing increasing repression, intimidation, physical attacks and restrictions on their freedom to work, they said...
PA President and Secretary General welcome priorities outlined by new OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Vienna
Publishing date: 14 January 2019
VIENNA, 10 January 2019 – OSCE PA President George Tsereteli (Georgia) and Secretary General Roberto Montella welcomed the priorities outlined by the new OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovakia’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajcak, in his address to the OSCE Permanent Council today.
OSCE PA human rights leaders urge humanitarian action for Leyla Güven in Turkey
Publishing date: 14 January 2019
COPENHAGEN, 14 January 2019- The leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, Chair Margareta Kiener Nellen (MP, Switzerland), Vice-Chair Michael Georg Link (MP, Germany), and Rapporteur Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (MP, Cyprus), today called for urgent steps by Turkish authorities to ensure the safety of Member of Parliament Leyla Güven, imprisoned pending trial.
Preventing and resolving conflicts, a safer future and effective multilateralism to guide Slovakia’s OSCE Chairmanship, Lajčák tells Permanent Council
Publishing date: 10 January 2019
VIENNA, 10 January 2019 – The major challenges facing the OSCE region and beyond demand more co-operation and more dialogue than ever before, said Slovakia’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák, when presenting the priorities of the Slovak Chairmanship to the Permanent Council in Vienna today...
In a letter to Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan OSCE Representative calls for release of blogger Mehman Huseynov and dropping of criminal charges against him
Publishing date: 9 January 2019
VIENNA, 9 January 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today in a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, expressed his serious concern about the situation and health condition of the imprisoned blogger and chair of the media NGO Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Mehman Huseynov, and called on the authorities to drop new criminal charges brought against him. Huseynov has reportedly been on a hunger strike since late December 2018...