News and press releases

SARAJEVO, 12 January 2022- The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is alarmed by a recent spate of hate incidents registered in various localities, including Bijeljina-Janja, Prijedor, Brčko, Gacko, Istočno Sarajevo, Ilidža, Foča, Doboj and Bužim. The Mission notes that the growing use of inflammatory, divisive rhetoric by some officials in BiH, including in recent days in Republika Srpska (RS), is contributing to the proliferation of such incidents. The Mission cautions against any and all acts that carry the potential to incite conflict and lead to the destabilization of peace and security in BiH.

VIENNA, 29 December 2021 — Following a request from the Russian side, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process, Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, met today in Vienna with the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, Dmitri Kozak, as well as with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko. Mr. Mayr-Harting was joined by Ambassador Tobias Lorentzson, Deputy Head of the Swedish Mission to the OSCE and Ms. Beata Baranska, First Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Poland to the OSCE, representing the current and incoming OSCE Chairs respectively.

WARSAW, 29 December 2021 – Following two Russian court decisions this week to close both the International Memorial Society and its sister organization Human Rights Center Memorial, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) expressed profound concern and called on the Russian authorities to ensure a safe and enabling space for civil society.

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat jointly organized the online training course “Utilizing i2 Analyst’s Notebook and i2 iBase in criminal intelligence analysis” from 14 to 17 December 2021.

A four-day training workshop on issues related to the strategic trade control in Tajikistan, organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, concluded on 23 December 2021.

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.

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.