News and press releases

Ambassador Janez Lenarčič took part in a conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 18 January that focused on the relationship between international election standards and national election systems. The conference was organized by the Inter-parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Following an invitation to observe local government elections in Albania scheduled for 8 May 2011, ODIHR will send a needs assessment mission to the country from 17 to 21 January.

Following an invitation to observe the parliamentary elections in Estonia scheduled for 6 March 2011, ODIHR will send a needs assessment mission to the country on 10-13 January.

VIENNA, 5 January 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, called today for an end to the attacks on independent media in Belarus and urged authorities to immediately release imprisoned journalists...

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, reiterated in a meeting on 5 January 2010 in Vilnius that he considers it crucial that the Organization be able to continue operating a field operation in Belarus.

This is the first redesign of the OSCE website since 2004. Much has changed in that time, and the new website is more focused on providing information about our activities, simpler navigation and enhanced multimedia...

In its final report on the 10 October parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, published on 20 December, ODIHR concluded that: "[the] elections constituted a further consolidation of the democratic process. Political pluralism, a vibrant campaign and confidence in the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda... characterized the elections. The authorities displayed the political will tohold democratic elections in line with OSCE commitments. Nevertheless, there is an urgent need for profound electoral legal reform."