News and press releases

MONACO, 2 June 2015 – Importance of international dialogue and co-operation between the OSCE participating States and Mediterranean Partners in tacking emerging transnational threats in the Mediterranean region was the focus of the joint OSCE and Principality of Monaco two-day conference, which concluded today in Monaco...

WARSAW, 1 June 2015 – More than 100 representatives of governments, international organizations and civil society met to discuss the role of national human rights institutions in promoting and protecting individual human rights at the three-day OSCE Human Dimension Seminar, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in co-operation with the 2015 Serbian Chairmanship of the OSCE.

BAKU, 1 June 2015 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić started his official trip to the South Caucasus today with a visit to Baku.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The SMM continued to observe a significant number of ceasefire violations in and around Donetsk and Donetsk airport. The SMM continued to be unable to travel to Avdiivka, Shyrokyne and certain other locations in “DPR”-controlled areas due to security considerations...

UST-KAMENOGORSK, Kazakhstan, 1 June 2015 – An OSCE-supported training seminar on countering transnational organized crime and trafficking in drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors began today in Ust-Kamenogorsk, eastern Kazakhstan...

SEOUL, 1 June 2015 –Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea Yun Byung-se, Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Tanasak Patimapragorn, Ambassador Vuk Žugić from the Serbian OSCE Chairmanship and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier opened the 2015 OSCE Asian Conference by emphasizing the need for increased co-operation between the OSCE and its Asian Partners for Co-operation in tackling today’s non-traditional and transnational threats...

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek, in co-operation with the Kyrgyz and Afghan Customs Services, has completed on 29 May 2015 the 10th and final customs training-course at the Kyrgyz Customs Training Centre...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations.* The SMM observed a continuing increase in the number of ceasefire violations in and around Donetsk airport. The SMM remained unable to travel to Shyrokyne due to security considerations. The SMM observed discrepancies of recorded heavy weapons at a number of Ukrainian Armed Forces, “DPR” and “LPR” holding areas...

VIENNA, 30 May 2015 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić will visit Azerbaijan on 1 June 2015. He will meet President Ilham Aliyev, Speaker of Parliament Ogtay Asadov and Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov, as well as members of leading political parties, and visit the OSCE Project Co-ordinator’s Office in Baku...

VIENNA, 30 May 2015 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić will visit Georgia on 2 June 2015. He will meet President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Speaker of Parliament Davit Usupashvili and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tamar Beruchashvili, as well as members of leading political parties...

VIENNA, 30 May 2015 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić will visit Armenia on 3 June 2015. He will meet President Serzh Sargsyan, Speaker of Parliament Galust Sahakyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian, as well as members of leading political parties, and visit the OSCE Office in Yerevan...

DUSHANBE, 29 May 2015 – The OSCE Border Management Staff College concluded its 13th Border Management Staff Course for Women Leaders in Dushanbe today...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and by security considerations* – observed an increased number of ceasefire violations in areas around Donetsk airport, as compared to previous days. Due to security considerations, the SMM was unable to patrol in Shyrokyne. In “DPR”-controlled Petrivske, the presence of an unknown armed group was reported...

VIENNA, 29 May 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned recent attacks and threats on Croatian journalists...

CHISINAU, 29 May 2015 – The OSCE Mission to Moldova today held the first in a series of meetings of the Human Rights Club for lawyers from both banks of the Dniestr/Nistru River. The event marked the beginning of a year-long project to maintain dialogue among local legal professionals from both banks and to support the development of civil society.

ASHGABAT, 29 May 2015 – National Risk Assessment (NRA) system for countering money-laundering and financing of terrorism was the focus of an OSCE-organized case study exercise that concluded in Ashgabat today...

COPENHAGEN, 28 May 2015 – The OSCE needs a strengthened presence on the ground, closer co-operation with civil society and a rededication to human rights commitments to help realize its goal of achieving comprehensive security, said participants in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Helsinki +40 seminar today in Belgrade. (PHOTOS available here.)...

WARSAW, 28 May 2015 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today commended the legislature of Nebraska for voting to abolish the death penalty in that U.S. state...

On 28 May 2015 at 07:00hrs (Moscow time), a Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 50 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guard and customs services. All the vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 15:10hrs on 28 May...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations.* The SMM confirmed the deaths of three persons by shelling in Horlivka and saw damage consistent with an artillery strike. The number of ceasefire violations decreased in areas around Donetsk airport. A suspected signal mine exploded within 5 metres of an SMM vehicle close to government-controlled Andriivka (30km north of Mariupol). Due to security considerations, the SMM were unable to travel to Shyrokyne...

VIENNA, 28 May 2015- The role of improving public procurement procedures for economic development and combating corruption, as well as the recent trends in public procurement, are the focus of a two-day Regional Seminar on Enhancing Public Procurement Regulation which started today in Vienna...

ASHGABAT, 28 May 2015 – Members of the Turkmen parliament, Mejlis, law-enforcement officials and representatives of research institutions attended an OSCE-organized seminar on international standards on freedom of religion and belief that concluded today...

A one-day OSCE-backed Business Forum “Osh – 2015” was held in the provincial capital Osh at the initiative of the Kyrgyz government’s representative in the region and support of country’s Investment Promotion Agency...

BELGRADE, 28 May 2015- Criminal justice experts and representatives from international organizations gathered in Belgrade today for the two-day OSCE Annual Police Experts Meeting, to discuss new trends related to links between organized crime, irregular migration and trafficking in human beings.

During the period of April – May 2015, the OSCE Mission to Skopje organized six training courses on anti-discrimination, hate speech and protection of personal data for nearly 120 teachers and professional staff from 22 high schools in Skopje, Tetovo, Gostivar, Kicevo, Struga and Prilep...

BELGRADE, 27 May 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) and Secretary General Spencer Oliver met today with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic in Belgrade for extensive discussions on the situation in and around Ukraine and other topics...

TIRANA, 27 May 2015- The OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier, today concluded a two-day visit to Tirana, during which he participated as a special guest at the summit of Heads of State and Government of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) and met with Albania’s highest officials. Throughout his visit, he emphasized that regional co-operation is key to ensuring peace, security and stability...

TIRANA, 27 May 2015- One hundred sixteen tonnes of hazardous chemicals will be shipped out of Albania from today for safe destruction thanks to a project run by the OSCE Presence in Albania, with the financial support of several OSCE participating States...

NEW YORK, 27 May 2015 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović welcomed the UN Security Council’s passing today of Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists...

Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism, Andrew Baker, stressed importance of different communities in joining forces to tackle anti-semitism.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Relatively low-level fighting continued in and around Donetsk airport and in a number of locations in the Luhansk region. The SMM concluded heavy weapons were not in situ at a “DPR” holding site. Civilians remained dissatisfied with the closure of a government-controlled bridge across the contact line in Luhansk region...

DUSHANBE, 27 May 2015 – A high-level conference aimed at consolidating international anti-drug efforts was held today in Dushanbe. The gathering was organized by the State Drug Control Agency with the support of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan and other stakeholders...

ASTANA, 26 May 2015- A regional training seminar on the practical implementation of the OSCE Vienna Document 2011 on confidence- and security-building measures began today in Astana...

On 21 and 22 May 2015, the OSCE Mission to Moldova held a mentoring workshop for psychologists as part of its project to combat domestic violence. The workshop was the first such event to take place in Moldova and was organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova, the OSCE Gender Section and the Danish Centre for Gender, Equality and Diversity (KVINFO)...

The introduction of end-to-end verifiability and the certification in the Internet voting system are among the main recommendations contained in a final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 1 March 2015 parliamentary elections in Estonia.

WARSAW, 26 May 2015 Achieving women’s equal participation has to be at the top of political agendas, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said at an expert meeting in Warsaw today, held ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and by security considerations* – observed ongoing fighting in and around Donetsk airport. Security concerns prevented the SMM from monitoring in the Shyrokyne area and in Avdiivka, both thought to be highly kinetic. The SMM observed military movements and presence on both sides of the contact line, and the construction of defensive fortifications in various locations in government-controlled areas...

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek, in co-operation with the Kyrgyz State Agency on Environment Protection and Forestry, conducted a roundtable discussion on the environmental protection and the role and plans of the Aarhus Centres in Kyrgyzstan, on 21 May 2015 in Bishkek...

On 25th May 2015, the 55th 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 meeting for war crimes investigators in South-Eastern Europe organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and supported by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 25 May 2015 in Sarajevo provided an opportunity for investigators to exchange experiences...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and significant caution regarding security considerations *. The SMM observed continuing ceasefire violations at and around Donetsk airport and Shyrokyne as well as other locations

KARAGANDA, 25 May 2015 – An OSCE-supported report on the activities of Kazakhstan’s National Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) in 2014 was presented today at the Interior Ministry Academy in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The SMM observed that the number of ceasefire violations decreased as compared to previous days, and were limited to a small number in and around Donetsk and Donetsk airport. The SMM observed no ceasefire violations in or around Shyrokyne. At Donetsk airport, the SMM monitored the recovery of human remains.

VIENNA, 23 May 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned yesterday’s attack on journalist Sase Ivanovski in Skopje...

VIENNA, 22 May 2015 – More than three hundred participants representing OSCE participating States, religious communities, civil society, the media and the academic community held an open debate about the root causes of extremism and radicalization that lead to violence and about possible measures and actions to prevent and counter these processes.

Three communication strategy capacity building workshops, organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, in partnership with the Information Department of the Office of Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, will take place from 19 to 23 May 2015 in Bishkek...

DUSHANBE, 22 May 2015 – A week-long Regional Seminar on the Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention, 1975) organized by the OSCE Border Management Staff College and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) concluded today in Dushanbe.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and significant caution regarding security considerations*. The SMM observed continuing ceasefire violations at and around Donetsk airport and Shyrokyne...

DNEPROPETROVSK, Ukraine 22 May 2015 – The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Ambassador Madina Jarbussynova, highlighted the risks of modern day slavery in crisis situations during a week-long visit to eastern Ukraine.

An OSCE-supported discussion on energy efficiency as the basis for green technologies and a low-carbon economy took place as a side event to the part of the VIII Astana Economic Forum in Astana, Kazakhstan on 22 May 2015...