News and press releases

WARSAW, 20 April 2021 — OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid concluded a one-day visit to Poland for discussions with the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, Foreign Minister, Zbigniew Rau, Deputy Foreign Minister, Marcin Przydacz, and the Polish delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

WARSAW/VIENNA, 8 April 2021 – All societies still feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the challenges for Roma are particularly acute, say the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on International Roma Day

WARSAW, 6 April 2021 – The numerous credible reports of criminal charges, administrative detention, intimidation and harassment targeting Belarusian citizens and human rights defenders simply for going about their lives or carrying out their work that have reached the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in recent months, are of increasing concern amid the ongoing human rights violations in the country.

SOFIA, 5 April 2021 –Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections were competitive and efficiently run despite the difficult circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and fundamental freedoms were respected. However, the massive use of state resources gave the ruling party a significant advantage, and a lack of editorial diversity was of concern, international observers said in a statement today...

VIENNA, 26 March 2021 – Thirty two young professionals and students from 29 OSCE participating States began the nine-month “Perspectives 20-30 Online Academy” on 26 March 2021. The Office of the OSCE Secretary General, in partnership with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe strongly supports this initiative.

The 2021 parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan were efficiently prepared amid the challenges posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic but lacked genuine competition. Despite partially addressing a few previous ODIHR recommendations by way of recent legal revisions, the general legal framework

STRASBOURG/WARSAW, 22 March 2021 – Kyrgyzstan’s draft constitution would result in a complete change of the country’s constitutional order if adopted and raises grave concerns over the lack of respect for the principles of the rule of law, separation of powers, and inherent lack of checks and balances, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe said in a joint legal opinion.