News and press releases

WARSAW, 20 June 2025 – Greater joint efforts and international co-operation are crucial to safeguard the protection of refugees guaranteed in international law, with the challenges displacement and migration pose both unique and fundamental to our common future, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said on today’s World Refugee Day.

More than 60 parliamentarians and experts from Europe and Central Asia gathered at the Finnish Parliament for a two-day workshop on gender-sensitive parliaments, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) with support from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and OSCE field operations. Entitled Realizing Gender Equality in and by Parliaments, the workshop highlighted the critical role of national parliaments in driving progress toward gender equality.

VIENNA, 3 June 2025 – More inclusive policymaking is needed to promote tolerance and counter discrimination in the OSCE region, OSCE leaders said at a two-day meeting to discuss effective ways of building inclusive societies through dialogue and participation, 50 years after OSCE participating States reaffirmed the universality of human rights and committed to respect the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief for all.

WARSAW, 2 June 2025 – Yesterday’s presidential run-off in Poland was competitive and well managed, but the longstanding polarization between the country’s two main political camps and media bias contributed to an intensely contested campaign amidst ongoing controversies over the independence of some key electoral oversight institutions, international observers said in a statement today.

WARSAW, 19 May 2025 – The first round of Poland’s presidential election offered voters a genuine choice between political options, but it took place against a background of deep political polarization that also impacted some key state institutions involved in the electoral process, international observers said in a statement today.

BUCHAREST, 19 May 2025 – In the strongly-contested second round of Romania’s repeat presidential election, fundamental freedoms of assembly and association were respected. However, defamatory rhetoric, biased media, and persistent inauthentic behaviour online, alongside regulatory gaps and fragmented responses by institutions, limited voters’ opportunity to make an informed choice and impacted public trust, international observers said in a statement today.

BUCHAREST, 16 May 2025 – International election observers will hold a press conference to present their findings following the second round of the repeat presidential election in Romania.