News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
OSCE Centre supports forum on environmental protection ahead of Astana Expo-2017
Publishing date: 1 August 2014
A two-day forum, supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana, on the role of public participation in improving environmental conditions at the Shuchinsk-Burabay recreation area was held at the Borovoe resort, near Kazakhstan’s capital from 31 July to 1 August 2014.
Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, based on information received as of 18:00hrs, 31 July 2014 (Kyiv time)
Publishing date: 1 August 2014
No changes at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 near Hrabove were observed by the SMM. Shelling on the outskirts of Donetsk persisted. Entrepreneurs from Kharkiv reported to the SMM on the negative economic consequences of the conflict in Donbas on their business. Concerns about a partial mobilisation, being carried out in Ukraine, are being raised by interlocutors of the SMM...
Azerbaijan ‘makes mockery of democratic aspirations’ in civil society crackdown, says OSCE PA human rights chair
Publishing date: 1 August 2014
COPENHAGEN, 1 August 2014 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, today deplored the intensifying crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan and called on authorities to quickly reverse the trend...
OSCE Representative says freezing Latvian magazine’s assets threatens media pluralism
Publishing date: 1 August 2014
VIENNA, 1 August 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern about a Latvian court decision to freeze the assets of Ir, a public affairs magazine, based on a pending damage claim for libel...
OSCE helps promote mutual understanding between Kyrgyz and Tajiks in Batken in south Kyrgyzstan
Publishing date: 1 August 2014
The OSCE Centre in Bishkek in co-operation with the UN Development Programme supported the Music and Drama Theatre of Batken, a city in south Kyrgyzstan, to premiere the play “Friends” on 31 July 2014...
New head of OSCE Mission arrives in Moldova
Publishing date: 1 August 2014
CHISINAU, 1 August 2014 – The new Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Ambassador Michael Scanlan, took up his position today in Chisinau...
Ahead of the 70th anniversary of the “Gypsy camp” liquidation at Auschwitz-Birkenau, OSCE/ODIHR Director calls for leaders to speak out against anti-Roma rhetoric, scapegoating
Publishing date: 1 August 2014
Collections: Roma and Sinti genocide
WARSAW, 1 August 2014 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), speaking ahead of Saturday’s 70th anniversary of the liquidation of the “Zigeunerlager”, or “Gypsy Camp”, at Auschwitz-Birkenau called today on political leaders not only to refrain from scapegoating Roma and Sinti communities, but also to speak out against racist rhetoric in public discourse that can fuel anti-Roma sentiment in society...