News and press releases

Enhancing the knowledge and skills of criminal justice practitioners from South-Eastern Europe in investigating cryptocurrencies and the darknet and using open-source intelligence methods was the focus of a one-week training course jointly delivered by the OSCE and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) from 5 to 9 March 2018 at the Albanian Security Academy in Tirana...

BAKU, 9 March 2018 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened its election observation mission for the 11 April early presidential election in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The mission’s deployment follows an official invitation from the Azerbaijani authorities...

International criminal law and transitional justice was the focus of an OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)-supported workshop for 20 law students from the Dzemal Bijedic University and the University of Mostar, which concluded on 9 March 2018 in Mostar...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske and heard an explosion near the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Bila Hora, Vodiane and Bohoiavlenka, as well as newly dug trenches near Zaitseve, Horlivka and Dokuchaievsk. The SMM continued to follow up on reports of an explosion at a building where the office of the Zakarpattia Hungarian Union is located. It facilitated discussions in the context of International Women’s Day in Odessa, Zaporizhzhia and Lviv...

The  final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 15 October 2017 presidential election in Kyrgyzstan recommends steps to address shortcomings in the legal framework, strengthen safeguards against the misuse of public resources, and ensure that

VIENNA/WARSAW, 8 March 2018 – Increased efforts are needed to advance women’s leadership and participation in public life if we are to achieve gender equality, say senior officials of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

COPENHAGEN, 8 March 2018 – Economic empowerment of women is a benefit to society as a whole and can be effectively pursued through prioritizing gender considerations in legislative and budgetary action, said the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on Gender Issues Hedy Fry (MP, Canada) today. Marking the celebration of International Women’s Day, she called for closing the gender gap, reducing poverty and ensuring women’s representation in all levels of public life...