News and press releases

Opportunities for increased economic participation by rural women through the use of modern IT tools, such as mobile phones and Internet-based communication, was the focus of two events held in Vienna on 6 March 2018.

VIENNA, 9 March 2018 – Yesterday’s court sentencing against 25 media workers shows the immense pressure to which media are exposed in the country, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir said today.

VIENNA, 9 March 2018 – Yesterday’s court sentencing against 25 media workers shows the immense pressure to which media are exposed in the country, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir said today.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The SMM followed up on reports of a civilian casualty in Zolote-5. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including at two border crossing points in Luhansk region near the border with the Russian Federation.* The SMM visited three border areas not under government control. The Mission continued to facilitate and monitor repairs and maintenance works to essential civilian infrastructure near Artema and Krasnyi Lyman. In Kyiv, the SMM followed up on reports of an incident involving a grenade launcher round fired at a restaurant. The Mission monitored gatherings on the occasion of International Women’s Day in Kyiv, Uzhhorod, Kharkiv, Kherson and Lviv; in Uzhhorod, it saw youths throw red liquid at speakers addressing a crowd. The SMM also monitored a protest in Lviv....

A team of experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is providing assistance to the Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee on Electoral Reform in following up on ODIHR electoral recommendations. As part of this assistance, the team, during a visit to Tirana from 7 to

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in close collaboration with the State Election Commission (SEC) organized a two-day refresher training course for 25 trainers on 7 and 8 March 2018 in Podgorica...

Enhancing the knowledge and skills of criminal justice practitioners from South-Eastern Europe in investigating cryptocurrencies and the darknet and using open-source intelligence methods was the focus of a one-week training course jointly delivered by the OSCE and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) from 5 to 9 March 2018 at the Albanian Security Academy in Tirana...