News and press releases

The OSCE Mission to Skopje, in co-operation with the Interior Ministry and the Association of the Units of Local Self-government (ZELS) is holding a forum on 2 December 2013 to introduce the Local Prevention Councils (LPC) to newly elected mayors and to explain their role in addressing safety and security issues at a local level, thus contributing to conflict prevention...

ANKARA, 30 November 2013 – High level representatives of law-enforcement bodies and the National Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan discussed best practices in prison management during an OSCE-supported working visit to Turkey that concluded in Ankara today...

A series of three OSCE-supported public hearings on topics of concern for people concluded on 30 November 2013 in Kyrgyzstan. The events took place in November in Bishkek and the cities of Karakol and Balykchy in Issyk-Kul province, and focused on information security, electoral reform, and urban socio-economic development...

TURKMENABAT, Turkmenistan, 29 November 2013 – A series of three national awareness-raising seminars on the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) concluded in Turkmenabat in south-east Turkmenistan today.

DUSHANBE, 29 November 2013 – Twenty Afghan and Tajik border officers completed an OSCE ‘training-of-trainers’ course under the Patrol Programming and Leadership Project in Dushanbe today...

BALYKCHY, Kyrgyzstan, 29 November 2013 – An OSCE-supported roundtable discussion on oil pollution in Kyrgyzstan’s largest lake Issyk-Kul took place today in the lakeside town of Balykchy...

DUSHANBE, 29 November 2013 The identification and seizure of chemical precursors that have the potential to be used by terrorists, insurgents and criminals to create explosives was the focus of a training course for border and customs officials that concluded in Dushanbe today...

GANJA, Azerbaijan, 29 November 2013 – The OSCE Office in Baku conducted a regional training course today on the prevention of domestic violence for police officers. The event was organized by the OSCE Office in close co-operation with the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry...

SKOPJE, 29 November 2013 – How to ensure transparency and inclusive public participation in local self-government through decentralization policies is the topic of an OSCE-supported event that started in Skopje today...

A roundtable meeting on hindering terrorists’ access to explosives through better control of explosive chemical precursors of legal use by industry and agriculture took place in Ulaanbaatar on 29 November 2013 with OSCE support, and financial assistance from the Australian government...

CHISINAU, 28 November 2013 – Forty tons of obsolete Soviet-era pesticides left Transdniestria today to be safely disposed of in Germany, with the financial and technical support of the OSCE Mission to Moldova. This is the final phase of a project under which some 100 tons of hazardous material from the left bank of the Dniester/Nistru River will be removed...

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Astrid Thors made her first visit to Kyrgyzstan from 20 to 22 November 2013 to familiarize herself with the political situation and interethnic relations in the country and discuss language and education issues...

A roadmap for streamlining and improving the lawmaking process in Serbia was the focus of discussions in Belgrade on 27 and 28 November 2013, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Serbian National Assembly and the OSCE Mission to Serbia...

Some 450 judges of administrative courts from across Ukraine were trained in applying provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights to better protect the rights of persons in their interactions with the state, during a series of two-day OSCE-supported training sessions conducted during this year...

COPENHAGEN, 28 November 2013 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ranko Krivokapic met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at UN Headquarters in New York on 27 November for wide-ranging discussions, including on prospects for increased co-operation between the bodies.

VIENNA, 28 November 2013 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today told participating States that while journalism has transformed itself over the past 15 years, the threats to free media remain the same...

BISHKEK, 28 November 2013- The current state of freedom of assembly in Kyrgyzstan was discussed today in Bishkek at an OSCE-organized roundtable meeting that also featured a presentation of a new monitoring report on the implementation of the 2012 law on peaceful assemblies in Kyrgyzstan...

The final session of this year’s OSCE-supported Youth Model Parliament was held on 28 November 2013 in Bishkek...

A roundtable discussion to promote co-operation between Ukrainian authorities and Kyiv-based embassies and consulates in the prevention of human trafficking was held in the country’s capital on 27 November 2013 with the support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine...

VIENNA, 27 November 2013- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the acquittal of investigative journalist Kostas Vaxevanis in Greece.

ASHGABAT, 27 November 2013 – International standards and national practices in the area of online media freedom and access to information were discussed at an OSCE-organized roundtable meeting that ended today.

Twenty-five officers from Tajik border agencies completed an OSCE essential management skills training on 27 November 2013 in Dushanbe. The event is part of a series of training courses aimed at enhancing the effective management capacity of Tajik border troops and Customs Training Institute...

ORSHANETS, Ukraine, 27 November 2013 – Border officers, environmental inspectors and other officials took part in an OSCE-supported training exercise today in central Ukraine on detecting radioactive materials and environmentally sensitive commodities at border check-points...

KYIV, 26 November 2013- The fifth and final 2013 round of official negotiations on the Transdniestrian settlement in the 5+2 format under the Ukrainian Chairmanship concluded in Kyiv today with protocol decisions on freedom of movement, pensions and social assistance for people who changed their place of residence, and on reconstruction of waste processing facilities...

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) shared its trial-monitoring methodology with lawyers and civil society representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia at a training workshop in Vilnius on 25 and 26 November 2013, organized in co-operation with the Belarusian Human Rights House...

ASTANA, 26 November 2013 – The role of legal institutions, civil society and religious leaders in preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism was the topic of an OSCE-supported international conference which took place today in Astana...

A major OSCE-supported event brought together neighbourhood inspectors, juvenile delinquency inspectors and members of local crime prevention centres from across Kyrgyzstan in Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan on 26 November 2013...

BAKU, 26 November 2013 –An international seminar organized by the OSCE Office on protection mechanisms for victims of human trafficking started in Baku today...

YEREVAN, 26 November 2013 – Police reforms, police accountability and transparency, education and trust are among the topics of discussion at an OSCE-supported international conference starting today in Yerevan.

KYIV, 25 November 2013- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara addressed the official round of negotiations on the Transdniestrian settlement process in the 5+2 format, that started today in the Ukrainian capital...

Sharing good practices in promoting gender equality and women’s advancement in political parties was the focus of a three-day regional workshop organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) that ended on 24 November 2013 in Bishkek...

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier met NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during an official visit to Brussels on 25 and 26 November 2013...

WARSAW, 25 November 2013- Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today reminded the Belarusian authorities of previous calls by OSCE Chairpersons-in-Office for the release of human rights defender Ales Bialiatski, who was found guilty on tax-evasion charges in 2011, and added his voice to theirs, calling Bialiatski’s case a violation of OSCE commitments...

On 20-22 November 2013, the OSCE Presence in Albania trained 20 probation officers from across the country and the General Directorate of the Probation Service. The training aimed to improve probation officers’ understanding of the specifics of working with juvenile offenders to increase their chances of social reintegration.

KYIV, 25 November 2013 – As the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is marked and the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence” international campaign gets underway today, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) gathered state officials, journalists, and civil society activists at an awareness-raising event in Kyiv...

The OSCE Centre in Astana and the Legislative and Judicial Reform Committee of the Mazhilis (lower chamber of the Parliament) with support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry, co-organized a study visit to Kyiv, Ukraine for parliamentarians and high-level governmental officials from 21 to 23 November 2013...

The OSCE Mission to Skopje organized a series of four legal information sessions for the Roma community in Skopje, with the last one held on 25 November 2013...

BAKU, 25 November 2013 – The OSCE Office in Baku today started an awareness-raising campaign on road safety for school children and their teachers. Some 2,500 children and 250 teachers will participate in events organized in co-operation with the Ministries of Interior and Education at 20 secondary schools of the capital Baku...

SARAJEVO, 22 NOVEMBER 2013-- The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina today launched the Supergrađani / Supergrađanke (Super Citizens) platform, an online mapping tool that crowdsources data regarding hate-motivated incidents, responses to these incidents, and initiatives aimed at their prevention.

BRUSSELS, THE HAGUE, 22 November 2013 – The European Commission, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) today publish the conclusions of the Regional Conference on Access to Civil Registration and Documentation in South-Eastern Europe, held on 25 October 2013 in Podgorica, Montenegro.

VIENNA, 22 November 2013 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern about restrictions placed on photojournalists covering events at the White House.

ISSYK-KUL, Kyrgyzstan, 22 November 2013 – Developing effective responses to domestic violence was the focus of an OSCE-supported series of training courses for Kyrgyz police officers that concluded today in the towns of Cholpon-Ata and Karakol in Issyk-Kul province in northern Kyrgyzstan...

URALSK, Kazakhstan, 22 November 2013 – More than 70 participants took part in an OSCE-supported regional conference on green growth and Kazakhstan’s transition to the green economy, held today in Uralsk, Western Kazakhstan...

Recommendations from the final report of the Election Observation Mission to the 23 June 2013 parliamentary elections in Albania were presented by a team from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) from 18 to 21 November 2013 in Tirana...

New members of Albania’s parliament took part in an orientation programme developed by the Assembly’s administration and the OSCE Presence in Albania, on 20 November 2013. The programme aimed to familiarize the new members of parliament with the functioning and structure of the Assembly, and to assist them in building a stronger co-operative relationship with the Assembly’s staff

A two-week training course aimed at improving the research skills of analysts from law enforcement agencies in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Tajikistan concluded at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe today.

KYIV/CHISINAU, 22 November 2013 – Official negotiations on the Transdniestrian settlement process will take place in Kyiv from 25 to 26 November. This will be the last round of negotiations under the Ukrainian OSCE Chairmanship in 2013...

COPENHAGEN, 21 November 2013 – During her official visit to Denmark the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, held high-level meetings and urged for full decriminalization of defamation and blasphemy...

The last in a series of eight OSCE-supported training seminars for judges on good practices in handling human trafficking cases took place on 21 November 2013 in Astana. The seminars were organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana, in co-operation with the Civil Service Academy, the Supreme Court and the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan.

A roundtable discussion on improving the management of labour migration, organized by the Labour and Social Protection Ministry and the OSCE Centre in Astana, with the support of Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the International Organization for Migration, took place in Astana on 20 November 2013.