News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Balancing the need to protect identity and promote integration in education
Publishing date: 1 October 2014
How can States, policy-makers and educators find an appropriate balance between protecting identity and promoting integration in schools? This question was the focus of a side event organized by the office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities during the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting on 29 September 2014...
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities welcomes efforts to improve inter-ethnic relations in Ukraine but remains concerned about situation in Crimea
Publishing date: 19 September 2014
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Astrid Thors visited Ukraine from 15 to 17 September 2014 to take stock of the situation since her last visit. She said that while the situation remains extremely tense and challenging, there are positive developments, including the ceasefire following the signing of the Minsk Protocol on 5 September 2014.
High Commissioner looks forward to the clarification of Albania’s national minority protection framework
Publishing date: 12 September 2014
In the first visit by a High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) to Albania since 1994, Astrid Thors exchanged views with the country’s President Bujar Nishani and Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati on regional co-operation. She welcomed the country’s proactive steps to forge closer ties with its regional neighbours, particularly in education matters, stressing that “national minorities can be a bridge to facilitate such initiatives"...
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities focuses on education during visit to Serbia
Publishing date: 2 September 2014
During her visit to Belgrade OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) on 28 and 29 August 2014, Astrid Thors took part in the presentation of a study co-financed by HCNM on teaching and learning the Serbian language as a non-mother tongue in South Serbia...
Ukraine in focus in OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities’ second statement to Permanent Council
Publishing date: 10 July 2014
In her second statement to the Permanent Council on 10 July 2014, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Astrid Thors focused on aspects of the crisis in Ukraine related to her mandate...
Kyrgyzstan-based NGO Spravedlivost named winner of 2014 Max van der Stoel Award
Publishing date: 10 July 2014
THE HAGUE, 10 July 2014 – Spravedlivost, a non-governmental organization based in Jalal-Abad in southern Kyrgyzstan, has been named as the 2014 winner of the Max van der Stoel Award, for its outstanding work in improving the position of national minorities in the OSCE area...
High Commissioner on National Minorities expresses concern over future of Latin-script schools in Transdniestria
Publishing date: 9 July 2014
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Astrid Thors, on a trip to Chisinau and Tiraspol on 7 and 8 July 2014, expressed her concern that schools teaching in the Latin-script could face closure by the authorities in Tiraspol if an agreement is not reached before the start of the next school year on 1 September...