News and press releases

VIENNA, 20 March 2019 – Best practice examples of and perspectives on Security sector governance and reform (SSG/R)- a priority theme for both Slovakia’s 2019 OSCE Chairmanship and the Swiss Chairmanship of the FSC – was discussed at today’s joint meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) and the Permanent Council in Vienna...

MINSK, 20 March 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today concluded a three-day official visit to Minsk. In his discussions with the Belarusian authorities, he called on the government to undertake the reforms necessary for developing a more favourable and pluralistic media environment...

Promoting gender-sensitive legislation in Albania was the focus of discussion at a workshop in Tirana on 20 March 2019. The event was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania and the parliament of Albania.

“Today’s verdict in the case of Radovan Karadzic is another crucial step toward holding accountable those individuals most responsible for genocide and other atrocities committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina...

Digitalization and simplification of import, export and transit procedures was the focus of a workshop organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) together with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and with the support of the World Customs Organization and the National Centre for Marketing and Price Study of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus from 19 to 21 March in Minsk, Belarus...

KYIV, 20 March 2019 – The “Puzzle Connection” exhibition, with artworks by young people from across Ukraine, including young artists who had to leave their homes because of hostilities in the eastern part of the country, opens to the public at the Kyiv History Museum from 22 March to 7 April 2019...

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle near Peredove. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and observed military hardware inside the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It observed electronic jamming systems in Yuzhna-Lomuvatka. The SMM saw for the first time mines and unexploded ordnance near government-controlled Marinka and Krymske and near non-government-controlled Kruta Balka, Ilovaisk, Hirne and Donetsk city’s Petrovskyi district. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including in non-government-controlled Verkhnoshyrokivske and Zaichenko and government-controlled Peredove, as well as near Izvaryne and Sievernyi, areas close to the border with the Russian Federation...