News and press releases

30- this is the number of days civilian, international monitors of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine have been held captive in eastern Ukraine. Although four members of the Donetsk-based team were freed on 26 June, four members of the Luhansk-based monitoring team are still being held. 30- this is the number of days their families, friends and colleagues are waiting for them. We call for their immediate and unconditional release. For updates follow us on Facebook- facebook.com/oscesmmu and Twitter- twitter.com/OSCE_SMM

SKOPJE, 25 June 2014 – The political and socio-economic factors that lead to terrorist radicalization and recruitment were the focus of an OSCE seminar which started today in Skopje, and brought together some 50 participants, including security experts from eight countries and representatives of state agencies and civil society...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 25 June 2014 – Efficient water management as a way of promoting environmentally-friendly sustainable growth and improving the local ecology is the focus of an OSCE-supported event that started today in Almaty for members of the Balkhash-Alakol Water Basin Council...

PODGORICA, 20 June 2014 – The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, strongly condemns the personalized and offensive attacks contained in recent reports by the Informer newspaper against Vanja Calovic, the Executive Director of the Network for Affirmation of the NGO Sector (MANS)...

VIENNA, 25 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today criticized amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that could further increase government control of the Internet...

Bern, June 24, 2014- Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs, Didier Burkhalter, held several bilateral talks regarding the situation in Ukraine at the margins of the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference today in Vienna.

The situation across the country was calm except in parts of Donbas, where tensions remained. In Lviv an office of the Russian-owned ‘Sberbank’ was vandalised. Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team have been missing for 29 days and four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team for 26 days...

VIENNA, 24 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned the brutal beating of writer and columnist Slavo Kukić...

COPENHAGEN, 24 June 2014 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President Doris Barnett (MP, Germany) today welcomed the announcement by separatists in eastern Ukraine that they will observe a temporary ceasefire proposed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko...

VIENNA, 24 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović expressed concern today about a British Columbia Supreme Court ruling ordering Google to take down URLs worldwide of a company found liable for copyright and trademark infringement in Canada...

VIENNA, 24 June 2014 –OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern about a first ruling in a series of lawsuits in which members of the Slovak judiciary sued a daily newspaper for defamation, and demanded public apologies and high compensation...

The OSCE Mission to Skopje trained some 150 custody officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs from 27 March to 22 June 2014 on the effective application of the new Law on criminal procedure that came into force in December last year...

SARAJEVO / ZAGREB, 24 June 2014- Representatives of the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia as well as international community donors and partners met in Zagreb from 23-24 June 2014 to discuss the progress of the Regional Housing Programme (RHP)...

VIENNA, 24 June 2014 – Strengthening the OSCE’s role in existing conflicts – particularly Ukraine – tops the agenda at the Organization’s annual security review conference starting in Vienna today, with discussions also covering military stability and transparency, transnational threats and Afghanistan...

The situation across the country was calm, except in parts of Donbas, where tensions remained. Sloviansk’s ‘mayor’ warned about the risk of an ecological catastrophe affecting Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team have been missing for 28 days and four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team for 25 days.

VIENNA, 23 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned the attacks on journalists in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica on 22 June, and urged for ensuring journalists’ safety when covering demonstrations...

COPENHAGEN, 23 June 2014 – A condemnation of Russia’s actions during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine is among more than a dozen supplementary resolutions submitted for parliamentarians to consider at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Annual Session in Baku, which runs from 28 June to 2 July...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 23 June 2014 – Municipalities in Kosovo should further improve their compliance with the Law on the Use of Languages, concludes an OSCE Mission report presented today...

VIENNA, 23 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned the attack on a television crew in Bosnia and Herzegovina and called on the authorities for a full and swift investigation...

COPENHAGEN, 23 June 2014 – Christian Holm (MP, Sweden), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, today welcomed the release of human rights activist Ales Bialiatski after nearly three years into his prison term, calling the move “hopefully a sign of more to come”...

More than 30 experts from the Environment and Water Resources Ministry of Kazakhstan, Aarhus Centres, academia and environmental non-governmental organizations took part in a video-conference on the draft Strategic Plan 2015–2020 for the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Kazakhstan, on 23 June 2014 in Astana...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. In Luhansk a military convoy, of unknown origin, consisting of three tanks and ten BTRs (armoured personnel carriers), was seen. The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) observed customs procedures on the administrative boundary line between Kherson region and Crimea. Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team have been missing for 26 days and four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team for 23 days.

Bern, June 20, 2014- Swiss Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Didier Burkhalter, welcomed today’s announcement of a ceasefire by the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko.

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. Donetsk city remained calm, with no substantive change to the security situation. The Donetsk team has been missing for 25 and the Luhansk team for 22 days. The SMM Head Office, in co-operation with the Office in Ukraine of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have organized and have begun to implement a joint training programme of monitors from each of the ten teams on the topic of internally displaced persons (IDPs). The purpose of this UNHCR-facilitated training, carried out over the next three weeks, is to strengthen the capacity of the SMM to monitor and report on the situation regarding IDPs...

COPENHAGEN, 20 June 2014 – Ensuring the security and human dignity of migrants and openly addressing the issue of political prisoners are among the key recommendations proposed by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions (Third Committee) in its draft resolution for the PA's upcoming Annual Session...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 20 June 2014 – The OSCE Mission will present its report on how municipalities in Kosovo comply with language rights, at a conference in Pejё/Peć this coming Monday...

ASHGABAT, 20 June 2014 – The use of new technologies in journalism and online journalism skills were the focus of an OSCE-organized training course that concluded in Ashgabat today...

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo concluded a five-day training course on 20 June 2014 on airport security for Prishtinë/Priština airport managers, police and customs officers, at the Kosovo Academy on Public Safety in Vushtrri/Vučitrn...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. Donetsk city remains outwardly calm, with no substantive change to the security situation. In a significant and positive development, the SMM has made contact with both the Donetsk team and the Luhansk team, which have been missing since 26 May and 29 May respectively.

VIENNA, 19 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed her concern about attempts by law enforcement in Poland to confiscate materials and force journalists to reveal confidential sources...

DUSHANBE, 19 June 2014 – Tajikistan’s record on its OSCE human rights commitments was the topic of a two-day meeting of government and civil society representatives that concluded today in Dushanbe...

The OSCE and international partners honoured individuals working to promote human rights, good governance, civic activism, local government reform, community service and free speech in Armenia at the Universal Rights Awards Ceremony on 19 June 2014 in Yerevan...

External police oversight and accountability mechanisms were discussed at an OSCE-supported international seminar held on 19 June 2014 in Yerevan...

VIENNA, 19 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today told participating States that events in Ukraine pose a great threat to media freedom and free expression across the OSCE region...

ASTANA, 19 June 2014 – An OSCE-supported training seminar on enhancing the efficiency of the judicial system in applying international standards on freedom of expression began today in Astana...

Challenges and good practices in protecting the freedom of peaceful assembly were the focus of a roundtable discussion in Washington D.C., organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and hosted by the George Washington University School of Law, on 18 and 19 June 2014.

Judicial independence in Serbia was the main topic of discussion at the OSCE Mission to Serbia conference held in Belgrade on 18 June 2014...

GENEVA, 18 June 2014 – Addressing participants at the 28th meeting of the Geneva International Discussions today, Angelo Gnädinger, the OSCE Chairmanship’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus, spoke of the need to maintain substantive dialogue. He encouraged participants to move beyond their established positions, to listen and learn from each other...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. Donetsk city remained outwardly calm. The police estimated that several hundred thousand people have now left the city. The mood among those that remained is uncertain and anxious. Mortar fire was reported to have continued in Sloviansk. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the four monitors from the Donetsk team and four monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

VIENNA, 18 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern about the disappearance of Alexander Sodiqov after his detention in Khorog on 16 June. Sodiqov, a blogger and commentator on Tajik and Central Asia politics, has not been seen although media reports claim he was released on 17 June...

COPENHAGEN, 18 June 2014 – Sustained work towards a new universal climate agreement, regulations to limit the risk of financial crashes and continued attention to the economic impacts of migration are among the recommendations made by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment (Second Committee) in its draft resolution for the PA’s upcoming Annual Session...

ASTANA, 17 June 2014 – A two-day training seminar for judges on the application of international standards and mechanisms of human rights protection began today in Astana...

DUSHANBE, 18 June 2014 – Twenty-six officers from Tajik law enforcement agencies completed a training course on chemical substances and precursors today in Dushanbe. The course was organized jointly by the EU-UNDP Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA) and Border Management Programme of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan...

Criminal justice experts from OSCE participating States, executive structures and international organizations gathered in Vienna at the OSCE’s Annual Police Experts Meeting which started in Vienna on 17 June 2014...

THE HAGUE, 17 June 2014- On a visit to Skopje, Kumanovo and Tetovo from 10-13 June 2014, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Astrid Thors expressed serious concern with regard to recurring outbreaks of inter-ethnic incidents in the country. She noted that of immediate concern is the verdict in the 2012 Smiljkovci Lake murder case, which is expected to be delivered tomorrow, 18 June, and pointed out that it could lead to intensified inter-ethnic tensions...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. There was no substantive change to the security situation in Donetsk city, which- on the surface at least- remained calm. Repairs to a key Donetsk water-supply pipeline were underway. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the four monitors from the Donetsk team and four monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

A youth forum organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw on 16 and 17 June 2014 focused on promoting political participation of young leaders in the OSCE region.

VIENNA, 17 June 2014- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović today condemned an attack on journalists reporting on a police raid in Gjirokastra’s Lazarat village in southern Albania yesterday...

VIENNA, 17 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today said she was deeply saddened by the death of Russian journalist Igor Kornelyuk in eastern Ukraine. Mijatović expressed her sincere condolences to Kornelyuk’s family and colleagues...

COPENHAGEN, 17 June 2014 – A “sincere political push” by governments and lawmakers is needed to help close the nagging gender gap in society, politics and business, said OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President Walburga Habsburg Douglas (MP, Sweden) in Tokyo today...