News and press releases

The Policy Advisers Course for Eastern Partners, co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the School of Public Policy (SPP) at Central European University, and the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) in Budapest, Hungary, from 11 to 13 November 2015, provided 20 participants an opportunity to discuss promoting youth political participation in the OSCE region...

The emergency situation of refugees in Europe was the focus of an expert panel meeting, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 12 and 13 November 2015 in Warsaw...

ASTANA, 13 November 2015 – An OSCE-supported international conference on the Green Bridge Partnership Programme (GBPP) as platform for promoting best practices and innovations in a green economy took place today in Astana, Kazakhstan...

DUSHANBE, 13 November 2015 – Some 24 senior and mid-level staff of K-9 Centre of Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry from Dushanbe and the country’s regions today completed a two-week training course, facilitated by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, on the effective use of service dogs in the fight against terrorism and organized crime...

DUSHANBE, 13 November 2015 – Twenty-two officers from the Main Directorate of Tajik Border Troops today completed a four-week training course on patrolling and leadership organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan at the Gissar Training Centre...

KYIV, 13 November 2015 – The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine Ertugrul Apakan today deplored the recent increase in the number and the gravity of ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine, and urged the sides to honour their commitments under the Minsk agreements...

On 12 November 2015 at 06:44hrs (Moscow time), a Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 46 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guard and customs services. All the vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 14:13hrs on 12 November...

Although it was relatively calm in most areas of Donbas, the SMM recorded ceasefire violations in a number of locations...

COPENHAGEN, 12 November 2015 – The Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), today welcomed the release of imprisoned Azerbaijani rights activist Arif Yunus, ordered by the Baku Court of Appeals due to his deteriorating health...

ROME, 12 November 2015 – The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Madina Jarbussynova, promoted the OSCE’s victim-centred and human-rights based approach to combating human trafficking in crisis situations during her visit to Rome on 11-12 November 2015.

A draft local action plan for gender equality for Montenegro’s capital city of Podgorica was the topic of an OSCE-supported public discussion held in the city, on 11 November 2015...

VIENNA, 12 November 2015- In response to questions received by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group about the report and draft resolution currently under discussion in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), we take note of the attention paid by PACE to a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. We share concerns, expressed in the resolution, regarding an increase of tensions along the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan and along the Line of Contact. We deeply regret the loss of lives, including civilians...

VIENNA, 12 November 2015- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern about draft amendments to Albania’s Criminal Code, and called on members of the Parliament to reject the bill which establishes imprisonment as a penalty for libel against public figures...

ASHGABAT, 12 November 2015 – Cyber and ICT security in the context of regional and international security, the use of the internet for terrorist purposes and cybercrime were discussed at an OSCE-organized national workshop that concluded in Ashgabat today...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”, including the Addendum. Its monitoring was restricted by the parties and security considerations*. The SMM received written notifications of the completion of withdrawal of mortars. The SMM recorded over 90 explosions and bursts of small arms fire at the outskirts of Donetsk city, including the impact of an 82mm mortar round...

KYIV, 11 November 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) met today in Kyiv with Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) Chairman Volodymyr Groysman and parliamentarians from the Ukrainian Delegation to the Assembly for discussions that focused on the status of implementation of the Minsk Agreements and the country’s ongoing reform process...

A regional workshop organized from 9 to 11 November 2015 by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro in co-operation with the Police Administration in Danilovgrad saw 23 forensic experts from Podgorica, Tirana, Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Skopje exchange opinions, experiences and best practices on enhancing the quality of forensics by aligning them with international quality standards...

A roundtable discussion organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova on 10 November 2015 brought together 26 local-level representatives of the country’s political parties to Taraclia to further enhance their understanding of national legislation and international best practices governing the public financing of political parties...

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall cross-border traffic decreased at both BCPs...

SKOPJE, 10 November 2015 – The Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, Nina Suomalainen, met today Prosecutor* Katica Janeva to discuss her new role and challenges ahead, offering the Mission’s support and co-operation...

ASTANA, 10 November 2015 – The role and participation of civil society in preventing and countering violent extremism was the topic of an OSCE-supported roundtable discussion, which began today in Astana.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Astrid Thors visited Ukraine from 2 to 6 November 2015, including trips to Kyiv as well as Mariupol, where she assessed the inter-ethnic situation in south-eastern Ukraine. In Kyiv, Thors discussed the status of modernizing the institutional

The second training course facilitated by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan on Improvised Explosive Devices Defeat (IED-D) for Tajik and Afghan specialists concluded in Dushanbe on 5 November 2015...

The OSCE Office in Yerevan in partnership with Yerevan State University’s Centre on Sustainable Development organized a workshop on problems and solutions related to sustainable use of natural resources and environmental planning in Armenia on 10 November 2015 in the Armenian capital...

WASHINGTON, D.C., 10 November 2015 – A report issued today by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) called on the United States to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and to either bring the remaining detainees to trial or free them...

VIENNA, 10 November 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today urged the Parliament of the United Kingdom to exercise great caution, and give ample consideration, to the right to freedom of information and free expression when debating a draft bill that could increase the surveillance powers of law enforcement authorities in the country...

The challenges and opportunities for female entrepreneurship, institutional support, development of business ideas and time management were the topics of a training course organized in Montenegro’s municipality of Tivat on 6 and 7 November 2015, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro...

VALLETTA, 10 November 2015 – The link between European and Mediterranean security has become increasingly evident and there is a need to reaffirm the strategic value of the OSCE’s co-operation with its Mediterranean Partners, said the Organization’s Secretary General Lamberto Zannier today as he opened an international conference on “Helsinki + 40: The Mediterranean Chapter and the Future of Mediterranean” in Valetta...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”, including the Addendum. Its monitoring was restricted by the parties and security considerations. The SMM visited the “LPR”-controlled Dolzhansky (84km south-east of Luhansk) border crossing point at the Ukrainian-Russian Federation border...

KYIV, 9 November 2015 – A draft state standard for legal education at bachelor degree-level, developed with the help of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, was presented to the legal community and handed over to the Education and Science Ministry at an event in Kyiv on Monday...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”, including the Addendum. Its monitoring was restricted by the parties and security considerations*. It observed a relatively tense general situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM visited several weapon storage locations in accordance with Minsk documents. It also observed a considerable number of military hardware moving through areas beyond the respective withdrawal lines...

DNEPROPETROVSK, Ukraine, 9 November 2015 –The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Madina Jarbussynova, opened today in Dnepropetrovsk a two-day training course for social workers, lawyers and other experts on how to better address trafficking in human beings stemming from domestic violence in times of crisis...

The laws, rules and procedures for jointly assessing the upcoming elections of judges and prosecutors to the High Judicial Council and State Prosecutorial Council were the focus of a workshop in Belgrade on 6 November 2015, organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) NGO...

An OSCE-supported training seminar on the topic of energy efficiency for school teachers took place on 9 November 2015 in Oskemen, Kazakhstan. The event was the last in a series of three sessions that trained over 300 secondary school teachers from Astana, Almaty and the Eastern Kazakhstan region...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”, including its Addendum. The SMM’s monitoring was restricted by the parties and security considerations*. The SMM observed explosions and gunfire from its position at Donetsk railway station. “LPR” members prevented the SMM from accessing border areas not controlled by the Government in Luhansk region, in violation of both the SMM mandate and the Addendum...

SARAJEVO, 6 November 2015- The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in co-operation with the FBiH Gender Centre, the Network of Women Police Officers, and UN Women, today concluded a series of ten training courses on implementing the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence and the use of the domestic violence database...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”, including the Addendum. Its monitoring was restricted by the parties and security considerations*. The SMM observed explosions and gunfire from its position at Donetsk railway station. Once again, “LPR” members prevented the SMM from accessing border areas not controlled by the Government in Luhansk region, in violation of both the SMM mandate and the Minsk Addendum...

VIENNA, 6 November 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today said that a court ruling in Georgia ordering the replacement of the management at television channel Rustavi 2, poses a threat to media freedom as it threatens the independence of a major media outlet’s editorial policy...

Following the OSCE Office on Democratic Institutions and Human Rights’ (ODIHR) competitive call for proposals to Ukrainian civil society organizations (CSOs) for human rights monitoring pro-jects, ODIHR invited over 40 representatives from 12 Ukrainian CSOs to a capacity-building train-ing event on human rights monitoring, held in Kyiv between 2 and 6 November 2015...

Four students from the Central Asian Youth Network (CAYN) learnt about the work of OSCE and its institutions during a two-day study visit to Vienna, which concluded on 6 November 2015...

VIENNA, 6 November 2015 – Some 70 representatives of OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation, experts from international organizations, civil society and research centres discussed changing labour migration dynamics at an expert meeting that concluded in Vienna today on effective policies for temporary, seasonal and circular labour migration...

KYIV, 6 November 2015 – An OSCE-organized conference in Kyiv brought together representatives of the government and civil society to discuss the national strategy for developing civil society over the next four years...

Complying with human rights standards, while effectively countering terrorism, was the focus of two training courses organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institution and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 2- 3 and 5- 6 November 2015 in Madrid, Spain...

New policies for the inclusion of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities should be developed together with community representatives, contain clear objectives and measurable indicators, and have necessary funding, said participants of an OSCE roundtable discussion held in Prishtinë/Priština on 5 November 2015...

Monitoring the implementation and evaluation of legislation were the focus of a workshop organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in co-operation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia and the OSCE Office in Yerevan, on 4 and 5 November 2015 in Tsaghkadzor, Armenia.

COPENHAGEN, 5 November 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) today expressed concern about the recent uptick in violence in eastern Ukraine and called on all parties to the conflict to do their utmost to promote conditions conducive to a political settlement...

Strengthening co-operation between criminal justice actors and other relevant stakeholders in addressing crimes related to irregular migration in the Western Balkans was the focus of a regional workshop in Belgrade on 4-5 November 2015, organized by the OSCE and its partners...

ASTANA, 5 November 2015- An OSCE-supported training seminar for election observers and members of the Central Election Commission (CEC) took place today in Astana...

The OSCE Programme Office in Astana supported a training seminar in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 5 November 2015 for social workers on providing care for victims of human trafficking...

TASHKENT, 5 November 2015 – Addressing and preventing human trafficking in the hospitality and tourism sector is the topic of a two-day OSCE-supported training course, launched today in Tashkent, for 25 representatives from Uzbekistan’s tourism infrastructure, airlines, airport services and police...