News and press releases

BERLIN, 12 December 2016 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a statement today said he considered the elections that took place in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on 11 December 2016 to be “an important step to settle the continued political crisis in the country.” Steinmeier noted that the International Election Observation Mission under the aegis of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights found in its statement, as presented today in Skopje, that the election proceeded without major incidents...

BERLIN/VIENNA, 11 December 2016- Chairperson-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier together with Secretry General Lamberto Zannier condemned in the strongest terms the acts of terrorism that hit Istanbul on 10 December 2016 and Cairo on 11 December 2016. They extended their condolences to the families and friends of the numerous victims and wished a speedy recovery to those that got injured. Steinmeier and Zannier expressed their solidarity with Turkey, an OSCE participating State and Egypt, an OSCE Partner for Co-operation...

HAMBURG, Germany, 8 December 2016- Youth participation and youth mainstreaming in security were in focus at a side event co-organized today on the margins of the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Spain and the OSCE Chairmanship’s three Special Representatives on Youth and Security. Taking part were many youth activists from civil society and OSCE youth focal points...

HAMBURG, Germany, 8 December 2016 – On the first day of the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier addressed delegations at a side event on the crisis in and around Ukraine. The minister was briefed by his Special Representative in Ukraine and to the Trilateral Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, and the Chief Monitor of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), Ertuğrul Apakan, on the state of play...

HAMBURG, Germany, 8 December 2016 – Frank-Walter Steinmeier, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister, today opened the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg, emphasizing that in stormy times a strong OSCE is more important than ever to provide an effective framework and engine for dialogue and co-operation. All 57 participating States, the vast majority of them represented by their Foreign Minister, have gathered in Hamburg for this two-day meeting which is the culmination of Germany’s 2016 OSCE Chairmanship...

Hamburg, 7 December 2016 – In his capacity as Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier today attended the closing session of the Parallel Civil Society Conference, held in Hamburg on 6 and 7 December just ahead of the Ministerial Council meeting. During the two-day event, organized by the OSCE-wide NGO coalition “Civic Solidarity Platform” more than 100 civil society representatives discussed and adopted concrete recommendations directed at the OSCE, its Institutions, field presences and participating States. The participants also adopted a “Hamburg Declaration” that calls for protecting and expanding civil society space.

VIENNA, 1 December 2016 – In their fifth briefing to the OSCE Permanent Council this year, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group Martin Sajdik and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine Ertugrul Apakan yesterday focused on the need for a real normalization and stabilization in eastern Ukraine, particularly through the implementation of the Minsk agreements.