News and press releases

VIENNA/WARSAW, 9 November 2020 – As freedom of religion or belief comes increasingly under pressure, the need to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies and at the same time minimize the dangers they pose is becoming ever more important. This topic is the focus of the OSCE’s final human rights conference of the year, beginning today...

WASHINGTON D.C., 4 November 2020 – Yesterday’s vote was hard-fought and competitive with a high degree of engagement by election workers and citizens in the face of great legal uncertainty and a highly polarised political environment fuelled by aggressive campaign rhetoric, international observers to the US general elections said in a statement today.

CHISINAU, 2 November 2020 – Moldova’s 1 November presidential election was competitive and conducted within an adequate legal framework, but frequent and late changes to both legislation and administrative rules contributed to legal uncertainty, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded in a preliminary statement today...

TBILISI, 1 November 2020 – Georgia’s parliamentary elections were competitive and, overall, fundamental freedoms were respected. Nevertheless, pervasive allegations of pressure on voters and blurring of the line between the ruling party and the state reduced public confidence in some aspects of the process, international observers said in a statement today. The elections were conducted under a substantially revised legal framework, following broad public consultations that brought some improvements for the holding of democratic elections, but further efforts to address shortcomings are needed, the statement says...

VIENNA, 28 October 2020 – OSCE participating States must do more to systematically implement their gender equality commitments across the politico-military, economic and environmental, and human dimensions of security, said participants of the third OSCE Gender Equality Review Conference, which closed today.

The impact of emergencies on violence against women and the need for gender-sensitive crisis responses were in focus at a special event organized on the margins of the third OSCE Gender Equality Review Conference on 27 October 2020.

KYIV, 26 October 2020 – Ukraine’s local elections were conducted under a substantially revised legal framework which, despite some improvements, requires further refinement to address remaining shortcomings, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a statement today. The Central Election Commission administered the elections professionally and efficiently, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the work of territorial commissions was often politicized, and was negatively affected by frequent replacements of their members.