News and press releases

ASTANA, 16 January 2012 – Notwithstanding the government’s stated ambition to strengthen Kazakhstan’s democratic processes and conduct elections in line with international standards, the early parliamentary vote still did not meet fundamental principles of democratic elections, international observers concluded in a statement issued today...

A report released by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 12 January 2012 said that, although December’s Russian State Duma elections were technically well-administered, the contest was marked by the convergence of the state and the governing party...

With the beginning of 2012, a new department has been established that will improve the OSCE’s work on combating transnational threats (TNT), OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier announced on 10 January 2012...

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović established a presence of her Office on Facebook...

VIENNA, 12 January 2012 – Today the Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore addressed the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna for the first time in his role as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. Deputy Prime Minister Gilmore emphasised the need for the OSCE’s co-operative, inclusive approach in tackling modern security challenges...

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier met French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé in Paris on 11 January 2012...

VIENNA, 11 January 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, condemned today the sentencing of Ales Barazenka, an independent Belarusian cameraman, to 11 days’ imprisonment for "participating in an unsanctioned event"...