News and press releases

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in co-operation with the State Election Commission, gathered some 35 members from the State and Municipal Election Commissions for a workshop in Podgorica on 14 and 15 December to review this year’s activities and develop a draft work plan for next year...

Some 150 high-level officials from the General Prosecutor's Office of Uzbekistan, the Senate of the country’s parliament (the Oliy Majlis) and government agencies along with civil society and media representatives gathered for an open doors event on the premises of the General Prosecutor's Office in Tashkent on 18 December 2017 to mark International Anti-Corruption Day...

The results of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek’s four-month research into the effectiveness of the so-called “single window model” used by Kyrgyzstan’s ministries and agencies to streamline the delivery of public services to the residents of the capital city were presented on 6 December 2017. The research was conducted at the request of the Prime Minister’s Office as part of efforts to improve the delivery of public and municipal services in the country...

WARSAW, 18 December 2018 – On the occasion of International Migrants Day, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today called for greater action to promote long-term integration efforts while protecting and promoting the human rights of all migrants.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions between the evenings of 15 and 16 December compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region between the evenings of 16 and 17 December compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission assessed impact sites near residential areas on the eastern outskirts of Popasna caused by shelling. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near all three. Its access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including in Trokhizbenka.* The Mission continued to observe long queues at the entry-exit checkpoint near Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM facilitated and monitored repairs of essential infrastructure near Travneve, Dovhe, and in Raivka. The Mission visited five border areas outside of government control. In Kyiv, it monitored a march and a gathering in the city centre, and the aftermath of reported incidents and clashes between the crowd and police.

VIENNA, 18 December 2017 – Now more than ever, there is a strong need to overcome myths and misconceptions about migration and migrants and to engage in a more balanced and fact-based dialogue about a phenomenon that has shaped humanity, said participants at a IOM and OSCE-hosted discussion, Perception is not reality – Towards a new narrative of migration, today in Vienna...

VIENNA, 18 December 2017 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today expressed grave concerns regarding the sentencing of Aziz Orudjev, head of the internet TV channel Kanal 13, in Azerbaijan.