News and press releases

The OSCE Mission and the Association of Kosovo Police Women organized a five-day training course on operational commanders’ duties for senior female police officers. The training course, attended by 14 officers, including lieutenants and sergeants – heads of different units within the Kosovo Police- was held from 13 to 17 March 2017 at the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS) in Vushtrri/Vučitrn...

ASHGABAT, 17 March 2017 – A one-week course on diplomacy for teaching staff and students of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the International University for Humanities and Development, supported by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, concluded today in Ashgabat...

WARSAW, 17 March 2017 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today expressed concern over the reported fining and detention of dozens of protestors and human rights activists in Belarus over the last week for their participation in peaceful public assemblies...

While concluding that the 4 December 2016 repeat second round of the Austrian presidential election was professionally and efficiently administered and the legal framework provided a sound basis for the conduct of democratic elections, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

AK-BULAK, Kazakhstan, 17 March 2017 – An OSCE-supported annual two-day roundtable discussion on major areas of criminal justice modernization began today at Ak-Bulak near Almaty, Kazakhstan...

ANKARA, 17 March 2017 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened a limited referendum observation mission (LROM) for the 16 April constitutional referendum in Turkey. The mission’s deployment follows an invitation from the Turkish authorities...

The SMM recorded a similar overall number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions as in the previous reporting period, but twice as many explosions in Luhansk region than in the previous period, most in areas west of Kadiivka. The Mission followed up on civilian casualties in Avdiivka, Bakhmut and Horlivka, and observed damage to civilian property in Lobacheve, Stanytsia Luhanska bridge and Pavlopil. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access remained restricted.* The SMM camera recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska area. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines and missing from storage sites. It visited two border areas currently not under government control. The Mission continued to monitor the blockade of routes crossing the contact line and monitored demonstrations in support of the blockade. It monitored continuation of a protest outside a bank office in Kyiv and followed up on a similar protest in Dnipro.