News and press releases

How to set up a national Advance Passenger Information (API) system to detect and deter the movement of foreign terrorist fighters was the focus of a four-day consultation between the OSCE and relevant Montenegrin authorities, which concluded in Podgorica on 8 March 2018...

VIENNA, 7 March 2018 –OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today welcomed the decision by the Supreme Court of Ukraine regarding the case of Igor Efimov, photojournalist with the newspaper Vechirni Cherkasy...

COPENHAGEN, 7 March 2018 – A large team of parliamentarians from the OSCE will observe the upcoming presidential election in the Russian Federation. Michael Georg Link (MP, Germany) will serve as Special Co-ordinator, leading the short-term OSCE mission of some 420 international observers for the 18 March vote. Marietta Tidei (MP, Italy) will serve as Head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation, which will include some 90 members of parliament from more than 30 countries...

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, including however, more explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours. In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations but fewer explosions compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske and observed damage in the aftermath of an explosion near Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Dovzhanske near the border with the Russian Federation and in Verkhnoshyrokivske.* The Mission observed a surface-to-air missile system in violation of withdrawal lines near Vershyna and a helicopter inside the security zone in Marinka, both in government-controlled areas. The SMM facilitated and monitored repairs to essential infrastructure in Horlivka, Naberezhne, Artema and Krasnyi Lyman. The SMM observed two gatherings in Lviv region...

VIENNA, 7 March 2018- Sound and constructive regional co-operation on military and defence matters can raise the effectiveness and efficiency of states’ capacities by pooling their resources and enhancing military research and development, said speakers at today’s OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation meeting in Vienna, held under Slovakia’s Chairmanship. The discussion focused on the work of the Visegrad Group (also known as the Visegrad Four (V4)), which, along with Slovakia, consists of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland...

PODGORICA, 7 March 2018 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened an election observation mission for the 15 April presidential election in Montenegro. The mission’s deployment follows an official invitation from the Montenegrin authorities...

A one-day roundtable discussion on opportunities and perspectives that the transition to digital broadcasting offers to Tajikistan concluded in Dushanbe on 2 March 2018. It was attended by more than 70 representatives from the government, parliament and civil society representatives.