News and press releases

The OSCE Office in Tajikistan in co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 29 March 2016 in Dushanbe organized a roundtable discussion with women politicians from all seven of the country’s registered political parties on the importance and relevance of gender action plans and gender budgeting...

BISHKEK, 30 March 2016 – Co-operation between the media and civil society in countering threats to the free flow of information and in promoting transparency and accountability were the focus of a two-day regional media conference, which ended today in Bishkek. The conference was organized by the OSCE Academy, in co-operation with the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, Internews–Kyrgyzstan and the Soros Foundation in Kyrgyzstan...

The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall cross-border traffic increased at both BCPs. A forty-ninth Russian Convoy crossed at the Donetsk BCP...

A four-day seminar organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan on explosive hazards training management opened at the Office’s premises in Dushanbe on 29 March 2016...

BERLIN, 29 March 2016- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is to depart for Central Asia this evening, where he will visit the OSCE participating States of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from 30 March to 1 April. He will hold talks with political leaders and meet representatives of civil society in all three countries...

The SMM observed a high number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, mostly in the Yasynuvata-Avdiivka area. In Luhansk region the situation remained relatively calm and a low number of ceasefire violations was recorded. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM observed the marking of mined areas in the security zone. It facilitated and monitored the retrieval of the body of a Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman. The Mission reached four border crossing points in areas not controlled by the Government. The SMM encountered freedom of movement restrictions in areas not controlled by the Government.* In Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odessa the SMM observed public demonstrations...

COPENHAGEN, 29 March 2016 – The Chairperson of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), and the OSCE PA Special Representative on the South Caucasus, Kristian Vigenin (MP, Bulgaria), today welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan to release on probation Intigam Aliyev, a prominent human rights lawyer...