News and press releases

VIENNA, 22 December – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said today that amendments tightening government control of the Internet in Belarus pose a major threat to free speech and free media. She also pointed to recent blockings of a number of news portals in the country...

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the Kyrgyz Defence Ministry signed five agreements on practical implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on small arms and light weapons (SALW) and stockpiles of conventional ammunition (SCA) programme that was signed on 2 August 2013 and ratified in May 2014...

Some 300 police officers were trained between 14 August and 21 December 2014 in Skopje on effective conduct when asked to appear as witnesses in main court hearings. The training course is part of the OSCE Mission to Skopje’s advanced training programme on raising awareness about the amendments to the criminal procedure law...

The schools of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk – two towns in the East of Ukraine, affected by recent hostilities – received newly-produced awareness raising materials to help their students avoid risks of accidents, associated with unexploded ordnance, abandoned ammunition and other potentially deadly items. At a handover ceremony in Kharkiv on 18 December 2014, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator’s officers presented to the regional authorities 7,000 workbooks with covers displaying instructions on safety rules for kids in case they encounter such munitions...

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in co-operation with the BiH Council of Ministers’ Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Security Policy and the Sarajevo-based Centre for Security Studies concluded a seminar on the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security on Thursday, 18 December 2014 in Sarajevo. The seminar aimed to inform security sector officials and representatives of civil society and media about provisions of the Code of Conduct, which calls for democratic oversight of the security sector...

Representatives of the Albanian Foreign Ministry, Central Election Commission and civil society completed on 18 December 2014 a three-day training course in Tirana on short-term election observation. The course was organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania and follows the successful delivery of a similar training course in July 2014...

While finding that Latvia’s 4 October 2014 parliamentary elections took place in an open and peaceful environment with respect for fundamental freedoms, the final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) recommends a review of limitations on the rights of some individuals to run as candidates.