News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Ambition and realism to define Slovak OSCE Chairmanship, says new Chairperson-in-Office Miroslav Lajčák
Publishing date: 1 January 2019
VIENNA, 1 January 2019 – “The Slovak 2019 OSCE Chairmanship aims to be ambitious in promoting dialogue, trust and stability in the OSCE area, and in supporting the good functioning of the organization. But we also have to be realistic: challenges and complexities are rife. Any further deterioration in the safety and lives of people in our societies is unjustifiable,” said today Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák as he assumed the post of Chairperson-in-Office of the regional security organization.
Statement by the Trilateral Contact Group on recommitment to the ceasefire
Publishing date: 27 December 2018
KYIV, 27 December 2018 – Today, the Trilateral Contact Group has adopted the following Statement on recommitment to the ceasefire on the occasion of New Year and Christmas festivities: “The Trilateral Contact Group, with the participation of representatives of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, reiterate their full commitment to a permanent ceasefire on the occasion of New Year and Christmas festivities, starting at 00:01 (Kyiv Time) on 29 December 2018.
OSCE Special Representative Sajdik and Chief Monitor Apakan welcome recommitment to cease fire in eastern Ukraine
Publishing date: 27 December 2018
KYIV, 27 December 2018 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and to the Trilateral Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), Ertugrul Apakan, welcomed today the sides’ recommitment to the ceasefire on the occasion of the New Year/Christmas festivities...
OSCE media freedom representative promotes dialogue between judges from Central Asia on protecting freedom of expression while combating violent extremism
Publishing date: 21 December 2018
VIENNA, 21 December 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, organized on 19 December in Bishkek the first Central Asia Judicial Dialogue, to discuss how to protect freedom of expression while combating violent extremism...
World Customs Organization accredits Kyrgyzstan’s State Customs Service Training Centre with regional status
Publishing date: 21 December 2018
The Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Kunio Mikuriya, and the First Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Service of the Kyrgyz Republic (SCS), Shamil Berdaliev, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the WCO Secretariat in Brussels on 19 December, thereby accrediting the SCS’s Training Centre as a WCO Regional Training Centre...
Moscow Mechanism rapporteur reports to OSCE Permanent Council on alleged human rights violations in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation
Publishing date: 20 December 2018
VIENNA, 20 December 2018 – Wolfgang Benedek, OSCE Moscow Mechanism rapporteur, presented to the OSCE Permanent Council today his report on alleged human rights violations and impunity in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation...
Press Statement of Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Sajdik after Meeting of Trilateral Contact Group on 19 December 2018
Publishing date: 19 December 2018
MINSK, 19 December 2018 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its Working Groups in Minsk on 19 December 2018: