News and press releases

A team of election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) visited Berlin and Karlsruhe from 19 to 21 November 2018 to present the final report of ODIHR’s election expert team for the 24 September 2017 elections to Germany’s federal parliament (Bundestag).

VIENNA / PODGORICA, 21 November 2018 – Two legal reviews of Montenegro’s draft Law on media and draft Law on amendments to the Law on the national public broadcaster RTCG, were presented by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Maryse Daviet. The legal reviews were commissioned upon the request of Montenegro’s Ministry of Culture.

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM followed up on reports of two civilians injured by shooting and shelling Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM observed heavy weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas of Donetsk region. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near all three disengagement areas and observed armoured combat vehicles in the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM facilitated and monitored repairs to essential infrastructure near Artema and Zolote-4/Rodina, as well as repairs to houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. Access for the SMM remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, near Zaichenko as well as Izvaryne, an area close to the border with the Russian Federation.

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKIY, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons decreased at both BCPs compared to the previous week...

VIENNA, 20 November 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, in Vienna to establish new co-operation with Albania on the future regulation of online media...

Business ethics and compliance mechanisms in the healthcare sector were the topics of a two-day training seminar for healthcare regulators and professionals organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) on 19 and 20 November 2018 in Tashkent, in support of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in partnership with the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and the Department for Gender Equality, delivered three two-day workshops during October and November 2018 to gender equality focal points from 12 Montenegrin municipalities on how to train their colleagues on understanding gender equality and gender mainstreaming...