News and press releases

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Knut Vollebaek visited Georgia from 19 to 20 June 2013...

Enhancing cross border trade between Tajikistan and Afghanistan was the topic of a roundtable discussion hosted on 25 June 2013 by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan...

BISHKEK, 26 June 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, expressed concern today over the new initiative in the Russian State Duma to criminalize speech which sheds a negative light on the role of the Soviet Army in World War II...

VIENNA, 25 June 2013 – The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, today discussed financial, social and legal factors related to migration, inequality and trafficking at an OSCE-hosted conference on preventing modern-day slavery...

Strategies for advancing women’s rights and gender equality in Ukraine were highlighted by experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) at a workshop for officials from the office of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, in Kyiv on 25 June 2013...

Montenegro’s presidential election on 7 April 2013 was professionally and efficiently administered but further steps are required to increase public confidence in the electoral process, concludes the final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)...

SARAJEVO, 25 June 2013 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina facilitated today a workshop to promote collaboration between Ombudsman Institutions across Southeast Europe, which are responsible for upholding and defending human rights...

ASTANA, 25 June 2013 – A two-day OSCE-supported national high-level conference dedicated to improving the environmental footprint of energy-related activities, assisting Kazakhstan’s strategy of transition to a green economy and marking the 15th anniversary of the Aarhus Convention on environmental democracy, began today in Astana...

COPENHAGEN, 24 June 2013 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Wolfgang Grossruck has called for an increase in funding to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in an amendment before the Assembly's human rights committee.

TIRANA, 24 June 2013 – Albania’s parliamentary elections on 23 June were competitive with active citizen participation throughout the campaign and genuine respect for fundamental freedoms...

COPENHAGEN, 24 June 2013 (FRE | RUS | TR)—The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Annual Session will convene in Istanbul with a focus on basic human rights less than a month after thousands of people took to the streets across Turkey in the country's largest demonstrations in a decade.

TIRANA, 24 June 2013 – Albania's parliamentary elections on 23 June were competitive with active citizen participation throughout the campaign and genuine respect for fundamental freedoms. However, the atmosphere of mistrust between the two main political forces tainted the electoral environment and challenged the administration of the entire electoral process, international observers said in a statement today.

A ten-day field training course for Interior Ministry counter-terrorism teams on VIP protection, facilitated by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, concluded on 19 June 2013 in the central district of Garm...

The 27 April 2013 parliamentary elections in Iceland were conducted in a pluralistic and transparent manner, but certain aspects of the electoral legal framework could benefit from further review, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) says in its final report, which was released on 24 June 2013...

YEREVAN, 24 June 2013 – Reforms and recent improvements in higher education as well as measures to fight corruption, to encourage students’ participation and ensure quality education are among the topics of an OSCE-supported event that started today in Yerevan...

The OSCE Mission to Skopje is organizing a training course on curriculum design for 15 police trainers from 24 to 28 June 2013...

ERGNETI, 21 June 2013- The 35th meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti today, co-facilitated by the OSCE and EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM)...

TIRANA, 21 June 2013 (shqip) – The Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE election observer mission, and the Heads of the Parliamentary delegations of the OSCE and the Council of Europe observing the 23 June parliamentary elections in Albania, call on all political leaders to use the remaining days to engage in a constructive process to ensure that the elections can proceed unhindered.

TIRANA, 21 June 2013 – The international observers monitoring the parliamentary elections in Albania will present their preliminary post-election statement at a news conference on Monday, 24 June, in Tirana.

DUSHANBE, 21 June 2013 – Twenty-five officers from the Tajik border troops and national customs service completed today a two-week training course on combating transborder organized crime organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan...

On 20 June 2013, civil society activists completed a four-day training course on data journal-ism and information activism in Sarajevo...

Five senior Afghan law enforcement officials attended a two-day study visit on fighting drugs trafficking from 20 to 21 June 2013 in Tashkent. The visit was organized by the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department in co-operation with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan...

BELGRADE, 20 June 2013 – An OSCE-facilitated regional conference on the simplified forms of criminal procedure, which started today in Belgrade brought together some 130 participants...

The OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier met Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on 20 June 2013 in Vienna to discuss current security issues in the OSCE region.

ALMATY, 20 June 2013- A two-day training seminar for police officers on best practices in combating the trafficking in human beings began today in Almaty. Participants discussed the detection and exposure of illegal organ transplants, child adoption for commercial purposes, and human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation...

YALTA, Ukraine, 20 June 2013- Ways of protecting the rights of individuals through constitutional justice are the focus of an international conference that started in Yalta in the south of the country, today with the support of OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU)...

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina signed partnership agreements with the Associations of Municipalities and Cities (AMC) of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska on 19 June 2013 that will strengthen the Associations’ co-operation with municipal assemblies and councils, and intensify inter-municipal and inter-institutional co-operation in the country...

The OSCE Presence in Albania loaned satellite phones to the Albanian State Police to support their work in remote rural areas during the parliamentary elections on 23 June 2013...

Vienna, 19 June 2013 – On the margins of the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference, the Organization’s Gender Section today held a discussion on why women can make a difference in all stages of the conflict cycle...

COPENHAGEN, 19 June 2013 (FRE | RUS | TR) – Cyber attacks should be viewed as equal to conventional acts of aggression according to a resolution now pending at the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, the world's largest regional security organization.

COPENHAGEN, 19 June 2013-- OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck today released the following statement regarding the situation in Turkey, which is scheduled to host the Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly beginning 29 June in Istanbul.

The OSCE Mission to Moldova, together with the Tiraspol-based non-governmental organization, Independent Institute for Law and Civil Society, organized on 18 June 2013 a seminar for civil society in Transdniestria to discuss challenges and best practices in civil society development from both the local and regional context...

Finding common responses to security threats and challenges as the Organization moves towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community was the topic of the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference that started in Vienna on 19 June 2013...

KYIV, 19 June 2013- Twenty-four trainers were prepared to upgrade skills and knowledge of social services staff, including state officials and NGO activists, in providing assistance to victims of human trafficking at an event in Kyiv, organised by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) from 17 to 19 June 2013...

Some 20 border and customs officials from Kazakhstan were trained in best practices to combat organized crime and terrorism during a three-day seminar that began on 19 June 2013 in Aktau, Mangystau Region...

Development of the mediation practice in criminal and civil processes in Kazakhstan was the main topic of an international conference held in Astana on 18 June 2013 with the OSCE support...

ENNISKILLEN, United Kingdom, 18 June 2013- Joint Statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict by Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and Franсois Hollande, President of the French Republic...

TBILISI, 18 June 2013- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, on a two-day visit to Georgia, today discussed with President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze a number of issues, focusing on the OSCE agenda...

The new 12-member Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) met for the first time in Warsaw on 18 June 2013 to map out the Panel’s role in providing assistance to OSCE participating States...

Better public access to domestic Serbian laws, the consolidation of national legislation, and its harmonization with international standards were the focus of a workshop in Belgrade organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Serbian National Assembly and the OSCE Mission to Serbia on 17 and 18 June 2013...

COPENHAGEN, 17 June 2013 – When more than 250 parliamentarians from across the Northern Hemisphere gather in Istanbul for the Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly this month, many will be looking to send a collective message to the United Nations about the need for an international response to the crisis in Syria...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 18 June 2013 – The OSCE Mission will organize tomorrow a first training session for the members of the newly established Kosovo Police unit responsible for the protection of cultural and religious heritage sites in the Prishtinë/Priština region...

COPENHAGEN, 17 June 2013 – A parliamentarian from Azerbaijan has called for OSCE countries to show more openness and greater engagement with civil society in a resolution now pending before the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly...

SKOPJE, 18 June 2013 – Staff at Skopje’s city administration will be introduced today to a new quality measurement standard aimed at improving work processes and professional performance at a training course initiated by the Ministry of Information Society and Administration and supported by the OSCE...

Identifying lessons to be learned from the March local elections was the aim of four regional workshops for local election administration bodies organized from 13 to 18 June 2013 by the OSCE Mission to Skopje...

DUSHANBE, 18 June 2013 – A training on corruption disclosure and investigation techniques of corruption-related crimes ended at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan today...

Libyan Foreign Minister, Mohamed Imhammed Abdul-Aziz submitted his country's application to become an OSCE Partner for Co-operation during the Security Days conference in Vienna on 17 June 2013...

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, told participants on at an Internet freedom conference in Tunis on 17 June 2013 that cyber security and human rights can go hand-in-glove and not be considered as competing values...

TUNIS, 17 June 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, warned today that the recent detentions and intimidation of journalists are endangering the right to free expression in Turkey.

KYIV, 17 June 2013 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara expressed his concern over the negative implications for the Transdniestrian settlement process caused by the recent adoption by the Transdniestrian side of the so-called legal act on the border.