News and press releases

Sixty-two young prospective leaders mainly from Georgia gathered at the Ministry for Sports and Youth Affairs in Tbilisi for the launch of the OSCE project "Building an OSCE Youth Network in Georgia" on Friday 13 June 2014...

TOKYO, 17 June 2014 – Creating a safer, more interconnected and fairer world in the face of emerging challenges in the larger OSCE area is a theme of the OSCE-Japan conference that concluded in Tokyo today...

Representatives from the President Office, parliament, the Supreme Court, law enforcement agencies, the government and civil society gathered in Bishkek on 17 June 2014 to discuss rule of law and judicial reforms in Kyrgyzstan...

WARSAW, 17 June 2014 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today launched its Hate Crime Reporting website, transforming its annual hate crime report into an interactive and user-friendly resource...

DUSHANBE, 17 June 2014 – The OSCE Office in Tajikistan and the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources organized today a regional conference on best practices in energy co-operation, with the support of the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) and the Association of Power Engineers of Tajikistan...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. On 14 June a Ukrainian military transport aircraft was shot down while approaching Luhansk airport. Forty-nine Ukrainian soldiers lost their lives. 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...

Twenty Ukrainian police officers and experts improved their knowledge and skills in investigating cyber-related crimes at a six-day intensive training course, organized in Kyiv by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine. The course, held at the request of the country’s Interior Ministry, ended on 14 June 2014...

Two tailored training courses were organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan together with the Armenian Police on 9-20 June 2014 to enhance the capacities of police and other relevant bodies in countering and investigating cybercrimes...

DUSHANBE, 16 June 2014 – A five-day regional workshop on organizational and operational risk management for customs trainers started today at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe. The event is co-organized with the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) and the World Customs Organization (WCO)...

VIENNA, 16 JUNE 2014 – OSCE Media Freedom Representative Dunja Mijatović today expressed dissatisfaction with rules on net neutrality proposed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)...

Fighting near Semyonovka (five kilometres southeast of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region) has caused damage to the Donetsk city water supply, with potentially serious consequences for its one million inhabitants and three million others...

A new study supported by the OSCE Mission to Serbia on the major security concerns of the Roma community in Serbia in the light of security sector reform was presented from 9-13 June 2014 in Kragujevac, Belgrade, and Nis...

COPENHAGEN, 15 June 2014 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ranko Krivokapic issued the following statement today on the situation in Ukraine...

BERN, 14 June 2014 – Swiss Foreign Minister and Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE, Didier Burkhalter, expressed his deep concern about today’s escalation of tension in Ukraine and called on all those who may have an influence on the situation in the country to act with utmost restraint...

DUSHANBE, 14 June 2014 – A two-day training workshop, organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan in co-operation with the Ecological Commission of the Parliament of Tajikistan, on the concept and practice of the “green economy” concluded in Dushanbe on 13 June...

The situation in Ukraine was calm, except parts of Donbas where serious tensions remain. The SMM spoke to the opponents of unitary Ukraine, held in custody in Kharkiv. It also continues to receive reports from internally displaced people (IDPs) about alleged human rights violations. 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...

The situation in Ukraine was calm, except parts of Donbas where serious tensions continue. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the 4 monitors from the Donetsk team and 4 monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

VIENNA, 13 June 2014 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier travelled to the Russian Federation on an official visit upon the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on 11-12 June 2014...

COPENHAGEN, 13 June 2014 – Enhanced confidence-building measures in the military sphere, democratic control of countries’ armed forces and a comprehensive assessment of cyber threats are among key recommendations made by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Political Affairs and Security (First Committee) in its draft resolution for the PA’s upcoming Annual Session...

Young leaders, activists, students, researchers and NGO representatives, aged 18 to 30 years old, and resident in Bosnia and Herzegovina are invited to apply for the OSCE Youth Advisory Group project to learn more about the OSCE’s work...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 13 June 2014 – The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jean –Claude Schlumberger, and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, opened today in Prishtinё/Priština a one-day regional conference on taking action against hate speech without violating the freedom of expression...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro, in partnership with the NGO Environmental Movement Ozone, on 10 June 2014 in Podgorica hosted the first regional panel discussion on challenges and experiences in environmental management in the region...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro on 11 June 2014 presented certificates to 14 women who had completed a Mission-supported course on employment skills and economic empowerment in Budva municipality...

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek supported a training course from 9-13 June 2014 on torture prevention and international and national standards regarding the rights and freedoms of military personnel...

Poverty, drugs, alcohol and peer pressure are the factors behind a sharp rise in the number of youths committing crimes in Kyrgyzstan, concludes a survey co-produced by the Police Matters Programme of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and presented on 13 June 2014...

The situation in Ukraine was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained with no substantial changes compared to the previous days. 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...

BERN, 12 June 2014 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister, Didier Burkhalter, condemned the attack against the Turkish consulate in Mosul, Iraq...

GENEVA, 12 June 2014 – Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, agreed to enhance co-operation between their institutions in a joint declaration signed in Geneva today...

ASHGABAT, 12 June 2014 – Law-makers and representatives of institutions dealing with media and Internet issues in Turkmenistan discussed best practices in drafting legislation on Internet and Internet media at an OSCE-organized roundtable discussion that concluded in Ashgabat today...

The Cetinje Parliamentary Forum “Women in business” was held on 9 and 10 June 2014 in Cetinje, bringing together parliamentary and government representatives from the Western Balkans and Turkey to discuss the challenges and potential for advancing women’s role in entrepreneurship...

The final round of meetings to present the results of monitoring of the reconstruction of "Western Europe-Western China" transport corridor and related national roads network began on 12 June 2014 in Arshaly, Kazakhstan. The meetings were supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana...

COPENHAGEN, 11 June 2014 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, met today with jailed Kazakhstani opposition leader Vladimir Kozlov at a penal colony outside Almaty...

AKTOBE, Kazakhstan, 12 June 2014- An OSCE-supported two-day training seminar for prosecutors on basic trial techniques and pre-trial preparation in criminal cases began today in Aktobe, Western Kazakhstan...

The situation in Ukraine was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. Donetsk city remained quiet. ‘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...

The first of a series of forums aimed at increasing women’s participation in political and public life took place on 11 June 2014 in Tirana. The nine vertical and 18 horizontal forums – part of a one-year project of the OSCE Presence in Albania – will bring together women that already hold public or political posts as well as those aspiring to enter political life...

FREISING, Germany, 11 June 2014 – A two-day conference on strengthening confidence-building measures between Transdniestria and Moldova concluded today in Freising in southern Germany. The conference is organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova with the support of the German government...

GENEVA, 11 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today urged the authorities in Tajikistan to ensure its citizens’ unrestricted access to the Internet, following the blocking of access to YouTube by a majority of internet providers in the country...

ASTANA, 10 June 2014 – An OSCE-supported roundtable discussion on countering terrorists’ use of explosives through better control over explosive materials took place today in Astana. The event was co-organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, the Anti-Terrorism Centre of Kazakhstan and the OSCE Centre in Astana with support from the governments of Liechtenstein and Spain...

The situation in Ukraine was calm, except in parts of Donbas where tensions remained with no substantial changes since the previous reports. 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...

BERN, 10 June 2014 – Political will on the part of states and genuine partnership with civil society are necessary to ensure that human rights defenders can effectively play their vital role in ensuring and promoting respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law in the OSCE area, said participants at an OSCE conference in Bern today...

VIENNA, 10 June 2014 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier congratulated the Mission in Kosovo on a successful support operation to the early Assembly elections in northern Kosovo on 8 June...

VIENNA, 10 June 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the sentences handed down to five individuals for the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006, but called for the investigation to continue to bring the masterminds to justice...

The role of the Ombudsman in addressing hate crimes was the focus of two days of training for staff from the Center for Human Rights of Moldova organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Chisinau on 9 and 10 June 2014.

The situation in Ukraine was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained with no substantial changes as compared to the previous reports. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the 4 monitors from the Donetsk team and 4 monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

MITROVICË / MITROVICA, 9 June 2014 – The OSCE Kosovo Mission has successfully completed its operation in support of early Assembly elections in northern Kosovo held today...

BERN, 8 June 2014- Didier Burkhalter, OSCE-Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister, today confirmed his agreement to send seasoned Swiss diplomat and Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini to accompany talks between Ukraine and the Russian Federation aiming at ending violence in Ukraine. Tagliavini has arrived in Kyiv...

The situation in many parts of Donbas remained tense with no substantial changes when compared with previous reports, whereas other parts of Ukraine were calm. Small rallies against anti-terrorist operation of the Ukrainian Government were observed in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk. The SMM has not re-established communication with the 4 monitors from the Donetsk team and 4 monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

KYIV, 7 June 2014- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister, Didier Burkhalter, welcomed the efforts of the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, to resort to international diplomacy and high-level contacts to create a new dynamic in favour of the resolution of the crisis regarding Ukraine and in order to strengthen partnerships which are indispensable for de-escalating the situation and lowering tensions in the country...

PRISHTINË / PRIŠTINA, 6 June 2014- The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger, expressed his heartfelt sorrow for the lives lost in today’s explosion at the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK) power plant in Obiliq/Obilić...

COPENHAGEN, 6 June 2014 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ranko Krivokapic has completed a visit to Berlin, where Ukraine mediation efforts topped the agenda in talks with the President of the German Bundestag and other parliamentary and government leaders...