News and press releases

While concluding that the 4 December 2016 repeat second round of the Austrian presidential election was professionally and efficiently administered and the legal framework provided a sound basis for the conduct of democratic elections, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

PODGORCA, 15 March 2017 – The head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Ambassador Maryse Daviet, and the programme manager of the mission’s rule of law and human rights programme, Robert Kucharski, met with the president of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro, Dragoljub Draskovic, on 15 March in Podgorica...

Some 35 law-enforcement officers and social workers took part in the first in a series of four training seminars on anti-trafficking practices and procedures in Kyzylorda, Kazakshtan, on 16 March 2017...

A two-day training course on legal drafting and review of indictments, appeals and other motions in war crimes cases, organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Judicial and Prosecutorial Training Centre of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, concluded on 10 March in Sarajevo...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. Most of the explosions were recorded around Svitlodarsk and Horlivka. The Mission corroborated reports of civilian casualties in Pikuzy and Avdiivka. It observed damage to homes on both sides of the contact line in Luhanske, Verkhnotoretske, Pikuzy, Donetskyi and Yasynuvata (where it also observed tracks consistent with a tank). It continued to monitor the disengagement areas but its access remained restricted.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. On two separate occasions, interlocutors dealing with public matters in areas not controlled by the Government refused to speak with the SMM, citing the need for written permission from senior “LPR” members. In Lviv region a local city council member spoke with the SMM about work to conserve historical Jewish sites.

VIENNA, 8 March 2017 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned an attack on journalist Elvi Fundo in Albania...

The Kyrgyz Association of Women in the Security Sector (KAWSS) was established on 2 March 2017 in Bishkek at a founding conference organized by the OSCE Centre in co-operation with the Kyrgyz Association of Women Police (KAWP), the Presidential Administration, the Parliament, the Defence Council, the Supreme Court, the Government, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Interior Ministry and all state security-providing structures. The aim of the Association is to increase the role of women in the security sector governance field. The conference brought together around 100 delegates representing the above-mentioned national stakeholders, civil society and international organizations...