News and press releases

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 21 June 2019 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovakia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Miroslav Lajčák, concluded today his trip to the three OSCE field operations in South-Eastern Europe with a visit to the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

Ensuring a gender perspective in legislative drafting was the topic of an OSCE-supported two-day seminar, organized with the support of the parliamentary Gender Equality Committee for the expert service of the parliament of Montenegro, as well as for parliamentarians on 20 and 21 June in Podgorica.

VIENNA, 21 June – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today published the Commentary to the Draft Information Security Concept of Kyrgyzstan for 2019-2023 commissioned by his Office and prepared by Dmitri Golovanov, a legal counsel from the Russian Federation. The Commentary was shared with the Kyrgyz authorities on 22 May 2019.

VIENNA, 21 June 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today expressed his concern about the verdict of the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court, which sentenced journalist Haşim Söylemez on charges of ‘aiding a terrorist organization without being a member’, to 6 years and 3 months in prison.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It saw military presence inside the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM saw self-propelled howitzers in violation of withdrawal lines near Starolaspa. It spotted anti-tank mines near Marinka, some for the first time. The Mission saw a fresh crater near a petrol station in Khreshchatytske. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. Its freedom of movement was also denied in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region at checkpoints near Shevchenko, Nova Marivka, and in Yasne.

VIENNA, 21 June 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today deplored the violent incidents and mistreatment of media workers during yesterday’s demonstration in Tbilisi, and said that journalists’ safety must be ensured at all times.

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe organized a roundtable discussion on 10 years of media self-regulation in Tajikistan, its opportunities and challenges on 21 June 2019 in Dushanbe. The event brought together 70 participants, including representatives of the parliament of Tajikistan, chief editors and journalists, as well as international organizations working in the field of media development.