News and press releases

VIENNA, 20 December 2021 – In response to the recent parliamentary approval of a draft bill that excludes companies from outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) to hold broadcasting licenses in Poland, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro today reiterated her concern for its wider implications for media freedom and called on President Andrzej Duda to veto it.

On 17 December 2021, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro met with the Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the OSCE, Ambassador Michael Carpenter. They discussed current developments on media freedom and freedom of expression in the United States and the wider OSCE region.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the Independent Media Commission (IMC) have launched a campaign to engage the public in contributing to better audio-visual media content, and ensuring broadcasters abide by the law and code of conduct.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro launched an awareness-raising campaign against hate speech on 20 December. The campaign highlights the importance of advocacy efforts to stop hate speech online.

Data driven decision-making in municipal governance and key indicators for sustainable urban development in Ukraine were among the main topics of a two-day expert roundtable discussion organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) in co-operation with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine in Kyiv on 16 and 17 December 2021.

New guidelines to help organize joint classes for students learning in different languages of instruction were promoted in Skopje today, as part of the OSCE Mission to Skopje’s efforts to increase integrated education in North Macedonia.

Seventeen directors from the OSCE-supported Women’s Resource Centres (WRCs), of which twelve are women, learned how to successfully manage projects and raise funds to ensure sustainability in their WRCs at a training course in Dushanbe. The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe organized the course, which took place from 13 to 17 December 2021.