News and press releases

COPENHAGEN, 20 November 2013 – OSCE PA Vice-President Ilkka Kanerva and Secretary General Spencer Oliver paid a working visit to Moscow last week, accompanied by Senior Counselor Semyon Dzakhaev and Programme Officer Maria Chepurina.

COPENHAGEN, 20 November 2013 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ranko Krivokapic today met with members of the U.S. Helsinki Commission in the U.S. Congress to discuss organizational reform and the OSCE's contribution to post-conflict development in the Balkans.

CHISINAU, 20 November 2013- Some 3,000 confiscated weapons were destroyed in Chisinau today, with technical and financial support provided by the OSCE to the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Moldova.

The role of new media and social networks in the social and political life in Armenia was the topic of a conference which was held today in Yerevan.

KYIV, 19 November 2013 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara welcomed the meeting between the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsian and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, that took place today in Vienna...

In preparation for a repeat election in Ukraine, fifty administrative court judges were trained in reviewing election-related disputes at a session organized by the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) from 18 to 19 November 2013 in Kyiv.

VIENNA, 19 November 2013- The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (the Russian Federation, France, and the United States of America) welcomed President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan and President Serzh Sargsian of the Republic of Armenia to Vienna to advance discussions on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, accompanied by their Foreign Ministers. They were joined by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office. This was the Presidents’ first meeting since their January 2012 summit in Sochi.

Prishtinë/Priština, 19 November 2013 – The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger today rejected unfounded accusations of inappropriate action and interference with the voters will during re-voting in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North on 17 November...

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Astrid Thors carried out her first trip to Moldova, including Gagauzia and Transdniestria, from 11 to 14 November 2013...

ASTANA, 19 November 2013 – The implementation of the National Preventive Mechanism Against Torture and Ill-treatment in Kazakhstan (NPM) was the focus of a two-day seminar that began today in Astana.

A OSCE-organized regional conference Quality and Information Management on Explosive Hazards Reduction and Response started in Almaty today.

A preliminary assessment of Armenia’s legislative process prepared by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and presented in Yerevan on 18 November 2013 recommends measures to further streamline lawmaking procedures...

ASHGABAT, 18 November 2013 – Effective mechanisms to prevent and combat money laundering were the focus of an OSCE-organized workshop that took place in Ashgabat today...

STOCKHOLM, 18 November 2013 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned a gun attack at the Paris headquarters of the daily newspaper Libération, in which an assistant photographer was injured...

ASTANA, 18 November 2013 – A roundtable discussion organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana and the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the draft law on fingerprint and genomic registration in Kazakhstan took place today in Astana...

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and newly-inaugurated Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili have discussed co-operation and priorities during a meeting on the fringes of the inauguration ceremony in Tbilisi this weekend...

VIENNA, 18 November 2013- The Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Vienna under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on November 19.

VIENNA, 18 November 2013- OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier has welcomed the peaceful re-run of voting in three polling centres in northern Mitrovica/Mitrovicë...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 17 November 2013 – The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger, welcomed peaceful voting in three polling centres in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North...

KYIV, 16 November 2013 – Genuine mutual respect and understanding to overcome hate, prejudice and discrimination must come as a result of collective efforts said OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara in a statement on today’s International Day for Tolerance...

Common challenges in adjudicating war crimes cases in South-Eastern Europe were the focus of a peer-to-peer meeting of regional and international judges organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Sarajevo on 15 November 2013...

Advancing women’s role in Hungarian politics ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections was the focus of a conference co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Budapest on 15 November 2013...

ERGNETI, 15 November 2013- The 39th meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in today, co-facilitated by Ambassador Andrii Deshchytsia, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Conflicts and the Head of EU Monitoring Mission to Georgia Toivo Klaar.

Hate-motivated violence not only does great harm to the individuals and groups targeted, but also poses a threat to security, social cohesion and development in the OSCE region, Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said on the release today of the Office’s annual report on hate crime...

A group quiz promoting knowledge and awareness of human rights among high school students will be held on 17 November, in Gyumri, Shirak province of Armenia.

The OSCE Centre in Astana supported an international conference on contemporary approaches to countering corruption and ensuring economic security that took place today in Astana.

A discussion of the draft Criminal Procedure Code recently introduced to the Parliament of Kazakhstan topped the agenda of an international conference, supported by the OSCE Centre and held on 15 November 2013 in Astana.

Some 150 experts from government, NGOs, and international organizations gathered in Kyiv today at the all-Ukrainian Gender Forum to discuss gender equality issues. The event was jointly organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator (PCU), UN Women and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

Promotion of political and inter-religious dialogue as well as a culture of tolerance is the aim of an OSCE-supported conference that started in Skopje today in the run-up to the International Day for Tolerance on 16 November.

The OSCE Office in Tajikistan today presented an assessment on the social-economic impact of small hydroelectric power plants in the Rasht Valley of central Tajikistan.

The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, on 10 November 2013 highlighted the plight of child trafficking victims at an awareness-raising concert in Vienna...

BISHKEK, 14 November 2013- Kyrgyz government officials, representatives of diplomatic corps, and journalists attended an observation exercise held today at a military polygon Ala-Too near Bishkek. The exercise was part of an OSCE-supported project strengthening Kyrgyzstan’ capabilities in managing and controlling small arms, light weapons, and stockpiles of conventional ammunition (CA)...

YEREVAN, 14 November 2013 – Some thirty five students from seven Armenian universities are gathering in Yerevan today and tomorrow for the final in a series of debates...

The OSCE Mission to Skopje and the National Commission for Protection of the Right of Free Access to Public Information organized a roundtable discussion about “Exercising the Right of Free Access to Public Information” on 14 November 2013 in Gostivar. The event brought together mayors, presidents of municipal councils, administrators and media representatives from 20 different municipalities...

A roundtable meeting to present and discuss the National Transparency and Sustainable Development Report related to the construction of the Western Europe – Western China International Transport-Transit Corridor took place on 13 November 2013 in Astana...

VIENNA, 14 November 2013 – All participants in the Geneva International Discussions – launched five years ago to address the consequences of the 2008 conflict in Georgia – must show constructive engagement if progress is to be made, OSCE Chairmanship Special Representative for Conflicts Ambassador Andrii Deshchytsia told representatives of OSCE participating States today...

KYIV, 14 November 2013 – Representatives of academia and professional community gathered to discuss the quality of legal education and science in Ukraine and ways of improving it at an OSCE-supported conference that started in Kyiv today...

The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, in a visit to Uzbekistan from 5 to 9 November 2013, met with key government officials and leaders of non-governmental organizations to discuss ways to strengthen action against modern-day slavery, in co-operation with the civil society...

TBILISI, 13 November 2013 –OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today called on the Georgian authorities to stay on the path toward media freedom as she ended her visit to Tbilisi...

The OSCE Centre in Astana supported the discussion of amendments to legislative acts on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters under the Aarhus Convention.

Imams and community leaders from across the OSCE region learned how to better prevent, monitor and report hate crimes against Muslims during a training session organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) that ended on 11 November 2013 in Warsaw...

SEOUL, 12 November 2013 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, in a keynote speech at the 2013 Seoul Defense Dialogue conference today, outlined key historic milestones of the Organization’s development and its principles, and discussed how the OSCE’s concept of comprehensive, co-operative security could serve as inspiration for other regions of the world, including Northeast Asia...

The OSCE Gender Section in co-operation with UN Women and the authorities of Kazakhstan held a two day-conference from 11 to 12 November 2013 in Almaty, Kazakhstan to put forth recommendations and share good practices in the implementation of the principles of the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 12 November 2013 – An OSCE-supported publication on advanced practices in integrated water resource management (IWRM) was presented at the Kazakh-German University in Almaty today...

TBILISI, 12 November 2013 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed improvements made by Italian authorities in the draft law on defamation, but also pointed to important problematic provisions that still need to be changed...

Adopting and implementing national and local waste management plans was the topic of a meeting organized jointly by the OSCE Mission and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, held in Podgorica on 9 November 2013...

KAPAN, Syunik province of Armenia, 11 November 2013 – Examining investment prospects for a remote Syunik region of Armenia is the main objective of a three-day forum organized by the Syunik regional administration with support from the OSCE’s Programme Implementation Presence in Syunik, which began today.

Representatives of Ukraine’s Interior and Social Policy Ministries and the Ukrainian Ombudsperson’s office visited Oslo from 4 to 8 November 2013 to learn about the experience of their Norwegian counterparts ensuring equality of men and women, and about the mechanisms for combating gender-based violence. The study trip was organised by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine...

The first of a series of training events for judicial experts on the Electronic Disclosure Suite (EDS) of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) held by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Office of the Trial Prosecutor of the ICTY started on 11 November 2013...

TBILISI, 11 November 2013 – More progress in media freedom in South Caucasus is needed in order to fully comply with OSCE commitments, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said today at the opening of the 10th OSCE South Caucasus Media Conference in Tbilisi...