News and press releases

TSAKHKADZOR, Armenia, 27 November 2015 – A two-day workshop for enhancing the work of penitentiary servants involved in providing social assistance to, and in the rehabilitation of convicts started today in Tsakhkadzor, Armenia. The workshop is organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Penitentiary Department of Armenia’s Justice Ministry...

VIENNA, 27 November 2015 – Criminal charges of life imprisonment against journalists further degrades an already critical media freedom situation in Turkey, Dunja Mijatović, OSCE media freedom representative said today, amid arrests of two prominent investigative journalists of the daily Cumhuriyet...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 27 November 2015 – The OSCE-supported national forum of defence lawyers, held today in Almaty, focused on the balance of the prosecution and defence in ensuring the rule of law...

An OSCE-supported roundtable discussion on implementing UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on women, peace and security in Kazakhstan began on 27 November 2015 in Astana...

ASHGABAT, 27 November 2015 – A two-day workshop on tools and templates for joining the Public Key Directory (PKD) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) concluded today in Ashgabat, with the aim of enhancing local capacities in preventing terrorists crossing borders undetected using false identities...

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek on 25 November 2015 held a ceremony to hand over to the Engineering Department of the Kyrgyz Armed Forces two explosive ordnance disposals, nine bomb suits with helmets, two distance remote exploders, two hook and line kits and seven mine detectors...

VIENNA, 26 November 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović strongly condemned today’s attacks on journalists during a police raid against members of a radical group in the village of Nardaran, on the outskirts of Baku...

VIENNA/WARSAW, 26 November 2015 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Michael Georg Link today called on participating States to systematically prevent and stop violence against women

On 26th November 2015, the 60th meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti, co-facilitated by Kęstutis Jankauskas, the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), and Ambassador Angelo Gnaedinger, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus...

A roundtable discussion on the outcomes of a project supported by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and implemented by the Social Justice NGO with the aim of strengthening the role of police in combating domestic violence was held on 26 November 2015 in Yerevan...

On 26 November 2015 at 06:50hrs (Moscow time), a Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 45 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guard and customs services. All the vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 14:15hrs on 26 November...

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was in focus of the press conference organized by the OSCE Mission and its partners on 25 November 2015 in Podgorica, which marked the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender-based violence in Montenegro...

ASTANA, 26 November 2015 –Agricultural development in line with green growth principles were the focus of an OSCE-supported roundtable discussion today in Astana for some 60 parliamentarians and Agriculture Ministry officials, as well as representatives of civil society and the business community, including the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs...

VIENNA, 26 November 2015 – The destructive powers of propaganda and its root causes must be eliminated, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said today when presenting a non-paper on propaganda and media freedom together with her assessment of the media freedom developments in the OSCE region in the past six months...

SKOPJE, 26 November 2015 – The exchange of best practices in the area of promotion and protection from discrimination on different grounds, between the national Anti-discrimination Commission and the Austrian Equality Infrastructure, was the focus of today’s OSCE-supported conference in Skopje...

The SMM recorded over 70 explosions in Donetsk region, as well other ceasefire violations elsewhere in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission continued to follow the situation near and at the administrative boundary line between Kherson region and Crimea.

On 25 November 2015, the OSCE Mission to Moldova organized a public lecture delivered by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Moldova Ivan Hnatyshyn for 48 students of Comrat University...

TURKMENBASHI, Turkmenistan, 26 November 2015 – A series of OSCE-supported seminars held in six cities across Turkmenistan concluded today in Turkmenbashi, raising awareness about the Aarhus Convention, a key UN document on access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters...

VIENNA, 25 November 2015 – At a roundtable discussion today organized by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, members of the Working Group on Self-Regulation in Montenegro adopted their newly-amended Journalists’ Code of Ethics, and also agreed to hold a follow-up roundtable discussion in Podgorica...

The SMM recorded a significant increase of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including at Donetsk airport. Some of the explosions and gunfire observed were assessed as training or demining activities. The SMM observed long queues of civilian vehicles waiting at government-controlled checkpoints at the contact line and at border crossing points between Ukraine and the Russian Federation...

BELGRADE, 25 November 2015 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier today strongly condemned the deadly attack on a bus in Tunisia, which killed at least 12 and wounded 17 officers of the presidential guard...

ASHGABAT, 25 November 2015 – International standards and best practices on the independence of the judiciary are the focus of an OSCE-supported three-day seminar that opened in Ashgabat today...

VIENNA, 25 November 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today said the new law on access to information in Kazakhstan is a major step toward greater transparency and accountability of public bodies, but she also noted that the law still has some shortcomings...

Best practices in reducing and responding to the threat of explosive hazards was the focus of an OSCE-supported three-day visit by a delegation from three Central Asian countries to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which concluded on 19 November 2015...

MONTREUX, Switzerland, 24 November 2015 – In her keynote address at the Informal Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Seminar on Human Rights, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Madina Jarbussynova, today outlined the importance of a human rights approach to combating trafficking in persons.

The SMM recorded multiple ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In Kherson and Kyiv, as well as continued to follow up on the situation at the administrative boundary line between Kherson and Crimea.

Leaflets warning of the dangers from mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), designed by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), were distributed to schools in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk by the SMM monitors over October and November 2015. Monitors also delivered interactive awareness lessons about the threat, answering questions from pupils about how to play safe...

VIENNA, 24 November 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the adoption of a law in Ukraine which paves the way for abandoning state and communal ownership of print media outlets...

DURRËS, Albania, 24 November 2015 – Newly-elected women members of municipal councils from across Albania learned new skills and networked with their more experienced peers at the OSCE-supported three-day School for Municipal Women Councillors, which ended today. It is the fourth time the OSCE Presence in Albania has organized this initiative since 2011...

VIENNA, 24 November 2015- On the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Beijing Conference on Women, the OSCE Gender Section organized a workshop today on economic and social rights, bringing together some 50 participants representing governmental institutions, international organizations and civil society from across the OSCE region...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 24 November 2015 – Ahead of tomorrow’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Jean-Claude Schlumberger, said that relevant institutions need to do more to enhance their responses to cases of domestic violence...

Improving the situation of Roma in Ukraine by enhancing co-operation between Roma civil society organizations and national and regional authorities was the focus of a roundtable meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine in Kyiv on 24 November 2015.

VIENNA, 24 November 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Norway requiring police to return footage of radicalized Norwegian youth that was seized from a film-maker in Oslo...

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić officially inaugurated the permanent premises of the Bujanovac Department of the Subotica Faculty of Economics of the Novi Sad University on 17 November 2015, marking another milestone in a long-term OSCE project to promote multilingual and multi-ethnic

BISHKEK, 24 November 2015- The OSCE Centre in Bishkek today organized a public discussion on the results of the 4 October 2015 parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, focusing on the lessons learnt and ways of further improving election-related legislation and electoral administration in the country...

ASTANA, 24 November 2015 – Best practices in reducing corruption are the focus of a two-day OSCE-supported training seminar that began today in Astana...

More than 50 school children from all over Ukraine were trained on human rights principles, from 19 to 20 November 2015 in Odesa, during the events organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the Office of the Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights...

The SMM observed a number of explosions and gunfire in Donetsk and Luhansk region; on 22 November, it recorded an increase of ceasefire violations around Donetsk airport. The SMM followed up on media reports of explosions damaging power supply pylons and subsequent disruption of power supply across the administrative boundary line between Kherson region and Crimea. Events marking the second anniversary of Maidan events were held across the country...

Standards in gender equality, the relevant legal framework, gender-sensitive language, the portrayal of women in the media, and the representation of women in political life were the focus of a training course for university students in Podgorica, organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro on 20-21 November 2015...

ASTANA, 23 November 2015 – An OSCE-supported workshop was held in Astana today on mechanisms and ways to de-carbonize Kazakhstan’s economy in view of its commitments to be approved at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris...

VIENNA, 23 November 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today called on the authorities in Vatican City to withdraw criminal charges against two journalists...

A volume of decisions by the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation for 2014 was launched on 20 November 2015 in Yerevan. It aims to serve as a useful tool and resource for all criminal lawyers...

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, on 19 November 2015, facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire on the contact line near Zolote, Luhansk region, enabling the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) medics to recover the body of a member of the UAF demining team. He had reportedly been killed in a mine accident on 15 November, along with the two colleagues...

COPENHAGEN, 21 November 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) and Secretary General Spencer Oliver today marked the 25th anniversary of the Charter of Paris for a New Europe and called on all OSCE participating States to reaffirm their commitment to the Charter’s values of democracy and human rights...

The SMM recorded four ceasefire violations in the wider area of Donetsk airport and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region...

The SMM was denied access to an “LPR”-controlled crossing point on the Ukraine-Russian Federation border, but recorded no ceasefire violations around Donetsk airport.

Methodologies for assessing the impact of draft legislation and monitoring of adopted legislation were the focus of a workshop organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in co-operation with the Parliament of Georgia, on 19 and 20 November 2015 in Tbilisi.

Exchanging experiences and best practices in the fight against cybercrime was the aim of an OSCE-supported regional conference for practitioners held on November 18-19 in Pržno, Budva, Montenegro...

DUSHANBE, 20 November 2015- After a two-day discussion on digitalization and its impact on media freedom and pluralism in Central Asia, participants of the 17th Central Asian Media Conference in Dushanbe, adopted a set of recommendations to help foster independent and pluralistic media in the context of digital transition (the recommendations will be available shortly)...

The importance of civil registration and personal identification documents and the negative effects on Roma in Ukraine who lack these documents were the focus of an expert seminar organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in co-operation with the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights in Kyiv on 19 and 20 November 2015.