News and press releases

The Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) presented the Protected Documents Handbook developed with the support of the OSCE Mission to BiH, at an event in Sarajevo on 28 January 2019.

The role of women in the political and decision-making processes and the techniques to improve professional skills to assume leadership positions was the focus of a training seminar which concluded on 28 January 2019 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

VIENNA, 26 January 2019- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today welcomed the thorough police action which has led to the arrest of the alleged instigator of the arson attack against journalist Milan Jovanović in Serbia.

The  final report  by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 7 October 2018 general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina highlights the lack of proper follow-up to previous ODIHR election-related assessments and recommends a comprehensive review of legislation to

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. • Small-arms fire damaged a functioning kindergarten in Chermalyk. • The Mission saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. • The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. It was also restricted at a checkpoint near Yasynuvata.* • The SMM followed up on reports of an incident at a newspaper office in Kherson. • In Kyiv and Chernivtsi, the Mission observed public gatherings on the occasion of the Day of the Unity of Ukraine.

The  final report  by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 30 September 2018 referendum in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia recommends revising and harmonizing the legal framework to provide clarity to referendum campaign rules, including campaign

Researchers and practitioners from the OSCE region discussed a wide range of analytical perspectives in the study of political parties, party systems, elections, representative democracy and closely related areas, and the practical implications of these for democracy-support efforts during a Winter