News and press releases

“On 3 May we are marking the 20th World Press Freedom Day and once again the theme is journalists’ safety. The threats, intimidation, harassment and physical violence has to stop. We – journalists, media outlets, governments, NGOs and international organizations – have to act together to stop this worrying trend. And we have to act now, because an attack on a single journalist is an attack on the whole society.”- Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.

KYIV, 2 May 2013 – Ahead of World Press Freedom Day, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara stressed the importance of the OSCE participating States’ commitment to freedom of the media and their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, SAN JOSÉ, 1 May 2013 – Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger, the head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, and Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE media freedom representative, condemned today the attack on Mufail Limani, the editor in chief of the public broadcaster, Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK)...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 30 April 2013 – Ambassador Jean Claude Schlumberger, the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, made the following statement today ahead of the World Press Freedom Day marked on 3 May...

CHISINAU, 30 April 2013 – The OSCE Mission to Moldova opened today an Aarhus Centre in Chisinau to provide the local population with information and legal expertise on environmental matters...

SARAJEVO, 30 April 2013 – In a letter sent today to members of the Collegium of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fletcher M. Burton conveyed his concern about and requested reconsideration of the Collegium’s decision to reject a request by the non-governmental organization Centres for Civic Initiatives (CCI) to attend the Assembly’s most recent session...

ASHGABAT, 30 April 2013 – Ways to increase integrity in public service and to prevent corruption and the laundering of its proceeds were discussed at an OSCE-supported workshop that concluded in Ashgabat today...

The presidential election in the Czech Republic in January 2013 was competitive, professionally organized and enjoyed a high level of public confidence, says the final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) released on 30 April 2013. The report suggests further steps to improve some aspects of the electoral process, including candidate registration and campaign finance...

TASHKENT, 30 April 2013 – Uzbekistan law enforcement representatives met in Tashkent today for an OSCE-supported workshop to discuss rights of women and their participation in peace negotiations and in post-conflict reconstruction...

ASTANA, 29 April 2013- An OSCE-supported expert roundtable discussion on the draft law on combatting corruption was held in the Kazakhstan Parliament today...

The OSCE Mission to Skopje supported an event on 29 April 2013 to present the 2012 Annual Report of the Anti-Discrimination Commission...

VIENNA, 29 April 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today expressed deep sorrow following the death of Polish professor and journalist Karol Jakubowicz who died on 28 April...

KYIV, 27 April 2013- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara today expressed his concern over recent actions that took place in the Security Zone, affecting calm and stability in the region...

CHISINAU, 27 April 2013- "I strongly condemn the incidents that happened last night in the Security Zone and call for the reduction of tensions between the sides. I discourage the Transdniestrian side from taking further unilateral actions that could destabilize the situation," said today Ambassador Jennifer Brush, Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova.

The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, issued on 25 April 2013 a series of policy and legislative recommendations to help ensure that judicial and law enforcement officials do not prosecute trafficking victims for crimes they have been compelled to commit by their exploiters. Among such crimes is the use of false documents or forced labour in a cannabis factory...

A Memorandum of Understanding between the OSCE, the United Nations World Food Programme in Kyrgyzstan, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit and the Special Representative of the Government in the Batken province to implement a project on "addressing conflicts over drinking water in Isfana City" was signed on 26 April 2013...

The OSCE Presence in Albania is supporting the Albanian Central Election Commission (CEC) in holding training for 76 trainers, selected by the CEC, on the recently amended Electoral Code and related sub-legal acts...

A Memorandum of Understanding between the OSCE, the United Nations World Food Programme in Kyrgyzstan, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit and the Special Representative of the Government in the Batken province to implement a project on "addressing conflicts over drinking water in Isfana City" was signed on 26 April 2013...

VIENNA, 26 April 2013 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, commemorated today the 27th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, the largest nuclear power plant accident in human history, with calls for securing unity and solidarity to overcome the consequences, as well as strengthen collective capabilities to prevent the occurrence of such calamities in the future...

VIENNA, 25 April 2013 – States have to find ways to promote freer movement of people, in order to facilitate greater human contacts across borders and help promote other basic rights, participants said today at the opening of a two-day OSCE meeting in Vienna...

VIENNA, 25 April 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today hailed the adoption of a defamation law by the British Parliament that would make it harder for lawsuits to be pursued against media...

The OSCE supported a course for 15 Kosovo Police investigators on how to better investigate crimes on Internet is concluding on 26 April 2013 in Prishtinë/Priština...

An OSCE-supported exercise for law-enforcement officers “Batken-Antiterror-2013” took place in Batken, southern Kyrgyzstan, from 24 to 25 April 2013...

VIENNA, 24 April 2013- Statement by OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier: "I have just concluded a productive meeting with Edi Rama, chair of the Albanian Socialist Party, where we discussed a number of issues, including Albania’s role in the OSCE, developments in South Eastern Europe and the upcoming Parliamentary Elections in Albania. During the meeting, I took note of Rama’s position and listened carefully to his concerns about the latest developments connected to the Parliamentary Elections and more specifically to the role of the Central Election Commission...

Ways of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) on women, peace and security in Kazakhstan was the topic of a National Consultative Meeting supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana on 23 April 2013...

CHISINAU, 23 April 2013 – The OSCE Mission to Moldova marked today its 20th anniversary with the opening of an art exhibition entitled “Artists building trust”...

Ways of improving the quality of legislation both before and after its adoption were the subject of a workshop organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Belgrade on 22 and 23 April 2013...

An OSCE-supported project aimed at to raising awareness among citizens about the work of local authorities through improved access to information started in Skopje on 23 April 2013...

COPENHAGEN, 23 April 2013 – Violence has no place in a democracy, said OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck following reports that a leading opposition figure in Tajikistan was beaten outside his home in Dushanbe...

ANDIJAN, Uzbekistan, 23 April 2013 – Addressing the challenges of illicit drug distribution is the focus of two seminars supported by the OSCE that opened today in in Andijan in the eastern part of Uzbekistan, and will continue on 25 April in Ferghana city...

KYIV, 22 April 2013 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara met today with President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Wolfgang Grossruck, who was on a two-day visit to Ukraine...

WARSAW, 23 April 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today condemned the recent attack on Gezim Bimbashi, a reporter with public broadcaster RTK TV...

Implementation of the new Law on Free Access to Information was the focus of a roundtable discussion organized by OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Human Resources Management Authority on 22 April 2013 in Podgorica...

A series of five forums organized by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo for the representatives of the Islamic, Serbian Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish communities to facilitate interfaith dialogue, promote tolerance and freedom of religion and belief, concluded in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica on 19 April 2013...

KYIV/VIENNA, 19 April 2013 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara and the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier welcomed today’s Belgrade-Pristina agreement facilitated by the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton in Brussels...

Protecting human rights when combating transnational terrorist threats to border security was the focus of a four-day training course for border officials that ended in Dushanbe on 19 April 2013...

An OSCE-supported seminar for lawyers in Kazakhstan working with domestic violence victims was held at the Alatau resort near Almaty from 17 to 19 April 2013...

Strengthening the mechanisms of promoting human and minority rights was the topic of a workshop organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights on 18 April 2013 in Przno, Becici...

New staff of four cantonal and four district prosecutor’s offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina completed on 19 April 2013 a two-week intensive training programme on war crimes pro-cessing. The training is part of the OSCE-administered War Crimes Processing Project...

VIENNA, 19 April 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today condemned an attack on the Greek sports journalist George Tselika and called for a swift investigation by the authorities...

SARAJEVO, 19 April 2013 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina launched today the Environmental Reporting Award for online, print and broadcast media on the subject of environment...

A two-day workshop to help municipal officials collect and process data on returnees and repatriated persons in Kosovo concluded in Mavrovo, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on 19 April 2013...

AGHVERAN, Armenia, 19 April 2013 – Teacher-trainers in Armenia will learn how to design human rights education that relates to students’ daily life in a three-day course that started today in Aghveran, Armenia...

Ways to enhance relations between the armed forces and civilians was the focus of the hearing at the Armenian National Assembly on 15 April 2013...

A roundtable discussion on the draft law on state-guaranteed free legal aid organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana with the parliamentary Committee on Legislation and Legal Reform was held in Astana on 18 April 2013...

VIENNA, 17 April 2013 –The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today presented a legal review of Tajikistan’s new law “On periodical print and other mass media” to the parliamentary working group that initiated the legislation. The new media law entered into force in Tajikistan in March...

An OSCE seminar on financial investigation and seizure of criminal assets related to different form of human trafficking was held with Albanian police, prosecutors, judges and financial investigators on 18 17 April 2013 in Tirana...

KYIV, 16 April 2013- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara expressed his shock today at the Boston marathon explosions...

VIENNA, 16 April 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, expressed concern today about threats against journalists Predrag Lucić and Nebojša Vukanović in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She called on the authorities to condemn such threats and ensure journalists’ safety...

The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, said at an international conference in St. Petersburg, Russia on 15 April 2013 that enhanced engagement and co-operation is essential in fighting modern-day slavery in the Baltic Sea region...