News and press releases

TIRANA, 17 December 2014- The OSCE Presence in Albania, in co-operation with the Minister of State for Local Issues/National Co-ordinator against Corruption, Bledar Çuçi, launched in Tirana today a new initiative to support anti-corruption measures in Albania...

The OSCE Presence in Albania has presented local civil society associations ARSIS and Children of the World and Albania the 2014 Presence’s Award for their contribution in assisting street children and fighting child trafficking at the ceremony in Tirana...

As part of its programme on human rights and non-discrimination, the OSCE Mission to Serbia supported the first initial meeting of teachers and experts on 16 and 17 December 2014 in Belgrade on Serbian as a non-mother tongue language...

More work is needed at the regional and local levels to address the needs and concerns of women and children in conflict and post-conflict situations, said participants at the end of a three-day conference in Kyiv on 12 December 2014 focusing on Ukraine’s gender policy in the context of European integration and international commitments...

The OSCE Presence in Albania concluded a series of seminars in Tirana and Durrës in December 2014 on the newly-established administrative justice system in Albania...

The SMM continued to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum and the work of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC). During a joint patrol, the SMM was caught up in small arms crossfire directed at Ukrainian military vehicles at Donetsk International Airport. There were no injuries to SMM personnel or damage to SMM vehicles...

An SMM patrol of two armoured vehicles was caught up in small arms crossfire directed at Ukrainian military vehicles at the Donetsk International Airport. No injuries to SMM personnel or damage to SMM vehicles were caused...

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's Ministry of Interior signed an agreement on 15 December 2014 to train local law enforcement officers in recognizing, understanding and investigating hate crimes.

BATUMI, Georgia, 16 December 2014- Senior and mid-level anti-corruption officials from across the South Caucasus and Eastern Europe as well as international experts gathered in Batumi today for the start of a two-day regional seminar on effective measures in preventing corruption...

COPENHAGEN, 16 December 2014 – Roza Aknazarova (MP, Kyrgyzstan), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment, today welcomed the agreement reached at the UN Climate Change Conference in Lima but warned that far greater ambition is needed to mitigate the effects of rising temperatures...

TASHKENT, 16 December 2014 – The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan today honored journalists in an award ceremony to recognize the best journalistic pieces highlighting environmental challenges...

DUSHANBE, 16 December 2014 – A two-day training course for Aarhus Centres and other non-governmental organizations on raising awareness of disaster risk reduction started today at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan. The training course will be delivered by national and international experts working in this field...

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Astrid Thors discussed the government’s plans to address the ethnic divide in society during her visit to Skopje, Tetovo and Struga from 9 to 12 December 2014. In Skopje, Thors discussed with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Fatmir Besimi a possible set of government-owned initiatives that would signal the authorities’ commitment to integration...

The SMM continued to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum and the work of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC). The SMM followed up on reports concerning the closure of air traffic at Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk international airports.

The office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities organized a meeting for representatives of national minorities and political parties with the aim of supporting dialogue in Akhalkalaki, Georgia on 8 December 2014. Akhalkalaki, in Georgia’s Samtskhe Javakheti region, is densely populated by ethnic Armenians...

PODGORICA, 15 December 2014 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović today wrote to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu calling for the immediate release of detained journalists...

PODGORICA, 15 December 2014- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today met with media representatives in Montenegro to support their work on amending the ethical code as an essential step in strengthening media self-regulation. She also met the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milo Djukanović, to discuss the media freedom situation in the country, welcoming the constructive approach by the authorities...

Holocaust education and remembrance are the main topics of a five-day study visit of Azerbaijani officials to the Netherlands, organized by OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Baku, in co-operation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, which will take place from 15 to 20 December 2014...

BISHKEK, 15 December 2014 – A report assessing the implementation of Kyrgyzstan’s 2012 law on peaceful assembly was presented at an OSCE-organized roundtable discussion in Bishkek today...

The provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum as well as the activities of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) remained at the focus of the SMM monitoring. The SMM saw damage at the Donetsk International Airport and monitored the rotation of Ukrainian army personnel based at the airport.

BERN, 13 December 2014 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter welcomed ongoing international efforts at various levels following the 21st OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel on 4 and 5 December aimed at restoring peace and stability in eastern Ukraine, including the work of the Trilateral Contact Group consisting of senior representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. The Contact Group has met several times since the Ministerial Council to explore ways forward.

On 12 December 2014 at 07:50 (Moscow time), a Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 83 vehicles were inspected by the Russian border guard and customs services. All the vehicles crossed back into the Russian Federation (RF) at 19:47 on December 12. This was the ninth Russian convoy to cross the border into Ukraine, and the eight crossing through the Donetsk BCP since the arrival of the Observer Mission (OM) at the Russian BCPs.

An SMM patrol of two vehicles was stopped and threatened by “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”) forces in Pyschevyk (23km North-East of Mariupol city, located in the security zone).

The SMM continued to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum and the work of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC). Very few incidents involving the use of weapons were reported to or witnessed by the SMM...

VIENNA, 12 December 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today denounced the continued oppression of free media in Belarus, following recent and repeated persecutions of journalists and members of the independent Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ)...

Twenty-six women officials of the Border Guard, Border Police, Customs Services and Police from 11 OSCE participating States completed a five-day training course in Iasi, Romania on 12 December 2014 on border security and management. The course was organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department...

ASTANA, 12 December 2014 – Current challenges in employing prison inmates and ways to facilitating their reintegration into the community were the main topics of the Second Forum on Penitentiary Reform in Kazakhstan held today in Astana...

DUSHANBE, 12 December 2014 – The graduation of a two-week advanced ‘train-the-trainer’ course for twenty Afghan and Tajik border officers, in the frame of OSCE Patrol Programming and Leadership Project, completed today in Dushanbe...

DUSHANBE, 12 December 2014 – A one-week training course organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan on project management for law enforcement officials working on border security, concluded today in Dushanbe...

The SMM continued to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum and the work of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC). The SMM witnessed only one incident involving the use of weapons – in the Donetsk region. In Odesa the SMM visited the site of a bomb explosion in the city centre...

SKOPJE, 11 December 2014 – Promoting the country’s cultural diversity, enhancing respect for minority rights, and fostering inter-cultural relations, are the aim of a cultural event taking place in Skopje tonight, which features dances, songs, poems and stories from different ethnic communities around the country...

VIENNA, 11 December 2014 – Representatives of Ukrainian and Russian journalists’ unions today condemned the ongoing attacks and detentions of journalists in and around Ukraine. The unions also urged journalists not to participate in propaganda activities and to show solidarity with their colleagues...

ASTANA, 11 December 2014- An OSCE-supported two-day training seminar for police officers on best practices in managing public assemblies began today in Astana...

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek supported the establishment of a new Witness Protection Unit under the Criminal Investigation Department of Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry on 10 December 2014, by providing technical equipment that will ensure the information security of protected witnesses during the investigation of criminal cases...

The role of a new Panel of Eminent Persons to examine ways in which to reconsolidate European security as a common project was the focus of a side event organized by the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions for 50 representatives from participating States, the OSCE and civil society on the margins of the 21st OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel, Switzerland on 4 December 2014.

Mapping of areas in the Southern Mediterranean Region where environmental issues could potentially turn into security challenges was the focus of an expert workshop in Vienna on 11 December 2014, organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities...

The office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) organized two events in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on 4 and 5 December 2014, as part of the HCNM’s Central Asia Education Programme. They build on previous HCNM initiatives to stimulate regional dialogue and co operation on the education of national minorities and the integration of society in the Central Asian States...

From 6 to 8 December 2014, students and alumni from the Chisinau School of Advanced Journalism (CSAJ) took part in an intensive workshop on investigative and data journalism. The workshop was co-organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova and the Independent Journalism Centre...

A five-day exchange programme visit on responding to, and reducing explosive hazards with the aim of supporting of confidence- and security-building measures ended in Ljubljana on 5 December 2014...

The SMM continued to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum and the work of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC). In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions the SMM witnessed only one incident involving the use of weapons...

ISTANBUL/ANKARA, 10 December 2014 –For the first time, a joint country visit of the three Personal Representatives of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on combatting discrimination and promoting tolerance took place in Turkey from 8-10 December 2014. The visit included meetings with civil society organizations in Istanbul and Ankara as well as a number of meetings with representatives of the Turkish government in Ankara. The aim of the visit was to discuss good practices and gaps in policy, activities and legislation as well as to consider areas in which the OSCE can provide further support in the implementation of OSCE commitments...

GENEVA, Switzerland, 10 December 2014- The thirtieth session of the Geneva International Discussions has just concluded its work...

Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Russian Federation – The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). Overall cross-border traffic flows decreased at both BCPs. The OM continued to observe a significant number of persons in military-style clothing crossing the border in both directions.

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 10 December 2014 – The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger expressed today his concern over an attack on newspaper editor and the head of the Association of Kosovo Journalists Zekirja Shabani...

More than 60 representatives from civil society and state institutions in Kyrgyzstan came together to discuss the situation of human rights defenders in the country at a meeting held in Bishkek on 9 and 10 December 2014.

ARMAVIR, Armenia, 10 December 2014 – On the occasion of Human Rights Day the OSCE Office in Yerevan supported an art exhibition at the newly-opened penitentiary institution in Armavir, which highlights the need for rehabilitating and reintegrating convicted people into society...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 10 December 2014 – The different aspects of human rights protection are being addressed at the eighth annual Law Students’ Forum “Protection of Human Rights in a Changing World” on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, today in Almaty, Kazakhstan...

The “Active citizenry” project aiming to strengthen effective co-operation mechanisms between the local authorities, citizens and the police in the country’s northern borderline area ended in Lipkovo municipality, Kumanovo, on 10 December 2014...

WARSAW, 10 December 2014 – On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), called on all OSCE participating States to do more to protect human rights defenders in the OSCE region..

ODESA, Ukraine, 10 December 2014 – International and local experts in mediation as well as civil society activists from across Ukraine gathered in Odesa to learn about the best practices and exchange their experiences at a three-day conference that started today with the support of OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine...