News and press releases

VIENNA, 5 March 2014 – Eighteen OSCE participating States decided to send 35 unarmed military and civilian personnel to Ukraine in response to its request. The matter was discussed at a joint meeting of the Permanent Council and the Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) in Vienna on 4 March 2014...

BERN, 4 March 2014 – Swiss Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter today discussed the Ukrainian crisis with German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier. They emphasized the capacity of the OSCE in helping to overcome the crisis...

The 15 December 2013 parliamentary elections in Turkmenistan took place in a strictly controlled political environment characterized by a lack of respect for fundamental freedoms central to democratic elections, says the final report from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) released on 3 March 2014.

COPENHAGEN, 4 March 2014 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, today criticized Russia for “violating several key provisions of the Helsinki Final Act” in its recent actions with respect to Ukraine and called on OSCE officials to consider the implications. In an address before the OSCE Human Dimension Committee in Vienna, Santos said: “When I observe this 19th century act in the 21st century, I wonder if Russia’s de facto invasion of Ukraine means its de facto withdrawal from our Organization and its key commitments to Eurasian security.”

The OSCE Mission to Skopje is calling on municipalities, students, teachers, parents and schools to apply for grants for organizing activities that bring together students from different communities and different languages of instruction. The deadline for applications are 1 May, and 1 October 2014...

COPENHAGEN, 4 March 2014 – OSCE parliamentarians will travel to Serbia next week to observe the country's 16 March parliamentary elections and provide leadership for the OSCE's short-term observer mission.

Free and professional legal advice for Armenian citizens on the call-up procedures and specifics of military service, is now being provided as part of the initiative launched by the OSCE Office in Yerevan together with the Armenian Ministry of Defence on 1 March 2014...