News and press releases

KYIV, 9 April 2020 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Heidi Grau, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups:..

VIENNA, 3 April 2020 – Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, today issued the following statement, in co-ordination with Albania’s OSCE Chairmanship, to the OSCE participating States on the COVID-19 pandemic. He urged that, “it is precisely when our global community is convulsed by a crisis of this magnitude that our obligation to combat the exploitation of vulnerable people becomes most acute”...

TIRANA / BRUSSELS / GENEVA, 31 March 2020- As we mark the date when the 51st round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) was supposed to take place (31 March- 1 April 2020), we, the Co-Chairs of the GID (UN Representative Cihan Sultanoglu, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus Rudolf Michalka and EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar), remain fully engaged to help address the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic.

KYIV, 27 March 2020 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Heidi Grau, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups:...

VIENNA/TIRANA, 26 March 2020- Chair of the OSCE Permanent Council Igli Hasani, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir and OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Lamberto Zannier today sent the following letter to the OSCE Community:

TIRANA/VIENNA, 23 March 2020- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Prime Minister and Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, Edi Rama, and OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger expressed their deep concern that in recent days, the armed formations have prevented the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) from crossing the contact line into non-government-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine. They called for urgent steps to ensure the safety of SMM staff and that the SMM is able to continue to operate, while taking into account the need to control the spread of COVID-19...

The OSCE today has recorded its first case of COVID-19 involving a staff member at the Secretariat. All necessary protocols have been followed as set out by the Austrian authorities, and the staff member’s condition is already improving.