News and press releases

Within primary financial support from the European Union, the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU) organised a roundtable “Priority Setting in Mine Action and Draft National Strategy” in Kyiv on 14 December 2023.

The war against Ukraine is having a devastating impact on civilians and civilian infrastructures, with widespread destruction of housing, schools, medical facilities, and health care centers. In a series of three training courses, the OSCE, through the WIN Project, trained 76 employees of the State Emergency Services on gender-sensitive and disability-inclusive humanitarian response and women's leadership in humanitarian action.

Ukrainian journalists, editors, media managers, communication experts from governmental and public sectors spent four days in a Carpathian resort to withdraw from day-to-day work hassle and war-related trials in order to take a critical look at the state of affairs in country’s media sphere at a seminar organized by Aspen Institute Kyiv and the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU). The event "Media and Reality: Dimensions of Responsibility," that took place in Polyana, Zakarpathia oblast on 29 November – 3 December 2023, involved 24 media community leaders selected through an open call for applications.

SKOPJE, 29 November 2023 — Putting a stop to the war against Ukraine and strengthening civil society across the OSCE were at the heart of recommendations put forward by civil society representatives from across the OSCE region. The recommendations were handed down at the annual OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference held in Skopje today.

VIENNA, 23 November 2023 – At a pivotal juncture for media freedom, Teresa Ribeiro, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, delivered her sixth biannual report to the Permanent Council today. The report, a reflection on her three-year tenure, portrays a media environment under duress. With media freedom serving as a barometer of democratic viability, Ribeiro's findings signal an urgent call to action.

Fourteen supervisory and law enforcement officials from Ukraine enhanced their knowledge and skills in identifying and investigating financial crimes conducted with cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets in a training course held from 14 to 17 November 2023 in Vienna. The course was organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

CHIŞINĂU, 6 November 2023 – Moldova’s local elections were calm and efficiently managed with candidates mostly able to campaign freely, but the broad powers of the government commission for exceptional situations were used to restrict freedom of speech and association as well as the right to stand, while interference from abroad and widespread allegations of vote buying throughout the campaign were of concern, international observers said in a statement today.