News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
OSCE Permanent Council Chair Hasani and Secretary General Greminger urge sides to ensure security of OSCE SMM to Ukraine personnel and assets
Publishing date: 22 June 2020
VIENNA, 22 June 2020 – The Chair of the OSCE Permanent Council, Ambassador Igli Hasani, and OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger expressed their deep concern about a recent serious incident involving threats to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) personnel and assets...
OSCE SMM Spot Report 33/2020: SMM camera near Shyrokyne damaged
Publishing date: 22 June 2020
At 08:10 on 22 June, the SMM lost the video feed from its daylight camera located 1km south-west of Shyrokyne (government-controlled, 100km south of Donetsk). The camera is generally directed northwards along the contact line...
ODIHR opens special election assessment mission in North Macedonia
Publishing date: 22 June 2020
SKOPJE, 22 June 2020- The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened a special election assessment mission (SEAM) for the 15 July 2020 early parliamentary elections in North Macedonia. The deployment follows an official invitation from the authorities of North Macedonia...
OSCE Head of Mission Kavalec on reforms with Brcko District BiH officials
Publishing date: 22 June 2020
Kathleen Kavalec, Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), had online meetings with Brcko District BiH Mayor, Sinisa Milic and Assembly Speaker, Esed Kadric on 22 June 2020...
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Daily Report 147/2020 issued on 22 June 2020
Publishing date: 22 June 2020
Summary Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 19 and 20 June, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Compared with the previous 24 hours, between the evenings of 20 and 21 June, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations
Serbian parliamentary elections well run, but ruling party dominance and lack of media diversity limited voters’ choice, international observers say
Publishing date: 22 June 2020
BELGRADE, 22 June 2020 – While contestants in Serbia’s parliamentary elections were able to campaign and fundamental freedoms were respected, voter choice was limited by the governing party’s overwhelming advantage and the promotion of government policies by most major media outlets, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded in a statement of their preliminary findings and conclusions today...
Media freedom lies at the heart of modern democracies, OSCE experts say
Publishing date: 22 June 2020
VIENNA, 22 June 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to the freedoms of expression, information and the media, highlighting the need to find new approaches to digital technologies if we are to safeguard these freedoms that lie at the heart of the OSCE commitments to human rights and democracy. These topics will be discussed intensively during a two-day OSCE meeting starting today.