News and press releases

TBILISI, 1 July 2016 – With nearly 300 parliamentarians in attendance from 54 countries, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th Annual Session opened Friday with speeches by host officials including Georgian Speaker of Parliament David Usupashvili, President Giorgi Margvelashvili, and Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, as well as OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) and the OSCE’s Chairperson-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier...

National Points of Contact from 16 OSCE participating States on implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their components were familiarized with countries’ commitments stemming from this Resolution, at a training session co-organized by the OSCE from 28 June to 1 July 2016 in Kaliningrad, in the Russian Federation. A National Point of Contact from Chile – an observer State – also took part...

VIENNA, 1 July 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the decision by a court in Turkey yesterday to release journalist Erol Önderoğlu from prison...

BAKU, 30 June 2016 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, met with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov during his visit to Baku today as part of his official trip to the South Caucasus and had a phone conversation with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. During the talks Steinmeier underlined the OSCE Chairmanship’s resolve to contribute to moving the settlement process forward...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared to the previous reporting period, including an escalation of armed violence in the wider area of Debaltseve. The SMM noted the use of rocket launchers in the areas of Avdiivka and multiple-launch rockets systems in Shyrokyne. It monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable recovery of the bodies of two “DPR” members in Pisky. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM continued to monitor the situation of civilians at the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. It facilitated and monitored repairs to essential infrastructure in Horlivka, near Gagarin mine, Trokhizbenka, Shchastia and in Obozne. The SMM did not encounter any specific restrictions to its freedom of movement...

WARSAW, 30 June 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), expressed his concern following the rise in hate incidents reported to the police in the United Kingdom following the 23 June referendum vote to leave the European Union...

SARAJEVO, 30 June 2016- The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office on Gender Issues Ambassador Melanne Verveer is to visit the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from 1 to 4 July 2016, where she will meet with officials and activists and discuss the status of women in the country...