News and press releases

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...

A three-day workshop about development, implementation and monitoring of preventive anti-corruption policies, and ways to promote integrity and good governance in the business sector in Central Asian states began in Astana on 16 April 2013...

The increasing importance of online media is one of the topics to be discussed at a master class in online media regulation in Istanbul opening on 17 April 2013. The event is hosted by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović...

KYIV, 16 April 2013 – Ways to strengthen co-operation on new, renewable and cleaner energy sources, and promoting green growth, innovation and technology transfer are key topics of discussion between officials and experts from 57 OSCE participating States at a high-level meeting in Kyiv today...

SOFIA, 16 April 2013 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission to monitor the 12 May early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria...

ERGNETI, 16 April 2013- On 16 April, the 33rd meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism took place in Ergneti, co-facilitated by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Special Representative for conflicts Ambassador Andrii Deshchytsia and the Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission Ambassador Andrzej Tyszkiewicz...

From 11 to 13 April 2013, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo organized a workshop in Prevallë/Prevalac to help the Central Youth Action Council (CYAC) participate in policy- and decision-making in ministries and municipalities...

A three-day workshop on promoting integrity in customs administration supported by the OSCE Centre started in Astana on 15 April 2013...

COPENHAGEN, 15 April 2013 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly bureau today decided to reactivate the 16-year-old agreement that guides election observation by the OSCE...

The OSCE Mission to Skopje, in co-operation with the Interior Ministry and the French Embassy in Skopje, is training 30 police officers from the Ministry’s Special Units Department on crowd management...

Police trainers from 11 OSCE participating States completed a three-day specialized police training programme on recognizing, understanding and investigating hate crimes, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Association of European Police Colleges (AEPC) from 10 to 12 April 2013...

Ways of securely storing small arms and light weapons (SALW) and conventional ammunition (CA) were presented and discussed from 8 to 11 April 2013 in an OSCE technical seminar in Ashgabat...

VIENNA, 12 April 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, welcomed today the restored access to news website fergananews.com in Kyrgyzstan...

Strengthening the independence, accountability and professionalism of judges was the focus of a two-day roundtable organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Council of Europe on 11 and 12 April 2013 in the Armenian capital...

VIENNA, 11 April 2013 – Today, on the 14th anniversary of the murder of prominent Serbian journalist Slavko Ćuruvija, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović urged Serbian authorities to honour the pledge they made to investigate this and other killings of journalists...

The current challenging political and economic environment calls for focused international response, said OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy during their meeting on 10 April 2013...

VIENNA, 10 April 2013 – Access for Turkish and other interested media at the upcoming trial in Germany of the alleged terrorist group National Socialist Underground would be in the public interest, said OSCE media freedom representative Dunja Mijatović today...

VIENNA, 10 April 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, condemned today the sending of a parcel bomb to the Turin-based headquarters of the daily newspaper La Stampa.

SARAJEVO, 10 April 2013 – The sixth annual Strategic Politico-Military Seminar, focused on education and training in the defence and security sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-organized by the OSCE Mission to BiH and the Armed Forces of BiH Joint Staff, opened in Sarajevo today...

VIENNA, 9 April 2013- The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Jacques Faure of France, and Ian Kelly of the United States of America) and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, traveled to the region March 18 to 22 and April 1 to 6 to continue working to help the sides find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict...

VIENNA, 9 April 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today voiced her concern about unannounced inspections of media NGOs in Russia...

CAMBRIDGE, United States, 8 April 2013 – Greater efforts have to be made by states to combat discrimination and violence against Roma and Sinti, as well as to promote the integration of their communities, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said today, on the occasion of International Roma Day...

VIENNA, 8 April 2013- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today expressed deep sorrow following the death of a Russian journalist Mikhail Beketov. A savage attack in 2008 left him permanently paralyzed and unable to speak. Just last year he was awarded the governmental prize for dedication to the profession...

On 8 April 2013, on the occasion of the International Roma Day, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina joined efforts with the European Union Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina/ EU Special Representative and the international humanitarian organization World Vision BiH in hosting a conference and debate in Sarajevo highlighting importance of preserving Roma culture and identity, but also severe economic, social and political challenges they face...

SKOPJE, 8 April 2013 – As in the first round of voting, the second round of municipal elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was highly competitive and well administered, but partisan media coverage and a blurring of state and party activities led, again, to the lack of a level playing field, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded in a statement issued today...

BELGRADE, 8 April 2013 – On the occasion of International Roma Day, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Peter Burkhard called for further efforts to ensure the inclusion of Roma and greater tolerance towards all members of Serbia’s society...

PODGORICA, 8 April 2013 – Montenegro’s presidential election on 7 April was professionally and efficiently administered, but allegations of the misuse of state resources and a blurring of the line between state activities and candidate campaigning continued to be at odds with OSCE commitments and Council of Europe standards, international observers said in a statement issued today...

SKOPJE, 5 April 2013 – The Election Observation Mission from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitoring the municipal elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will present its preliminary statement for the second round of the elections at a news conference on Monday, 8 April, in Skopje...

STRASBOURG, 5 April 2013 – Ambassador Ihor Prokopchuk of Ukraine, Chairperson of the OSCE Permanent Council, and Ambassador Josep Dalleres of Andorra, Chairperson of the Ministers’ Deputies of the Council of Europe co-chaired today the 17th meeting of the Co-ordination Group between the Council of Europe and the OSCE. Representatives of the OSCE Troika, Bureau of the Ministers’ Deputies of the Council of Europe, Secretariats of both Organizations and their focal points also took part at the meeting...

CHISINAU, 5 April 2013 – Today the OSCE Mission to Moldova facilitated and monitored the removal of more than 150 sources of ionizing radiation from the Transdniestrian region...

TALAS, Kyrgyzstan, 5 April 2013 – An OSCE-organized training seminar on managing water resources and resolving related disputes took place today in Talas, northern Kyrgyzstan...

A two-day workshop on the revised Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, organized by the World Bank and the Kazakhstan’s Committee for Financial Monitoring with the OSCE Co-ordinator for Economic and Environmental Activities, the OSCE Centre in Astana and the US Embassy in Kazakhstan began on 4 April 2013 in Burabay, Kazakhstan...

The Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, jointly with the Secretariat of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), held a workshop on 3 April 2013 in Istanbul on border and customs issues...

The OSCE Mission to Skopje supported the local police in Bitola in developing a youth theatre play as an effort to prevent the use of illegal drugs among young people in Bitola, a city in the south-western part of the country...

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) together with the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) organized in Kyiv on 2 April 2013 a conference to discuss the development of a training system for election commission members...

MOSCOW, 29 March 2013 – The OSCE Chairperson, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, on a working visit to Moscow today, emphasized the need to promote trust, confidence and reconciliation among the OSCE participating States...

BISHKEK, 29 March 2013 – The newly established Training Centre of the State Financial Intelligence Service (SFIS) was opened today in Bishkek with support of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek...

DUSHANBE, 29 March 2013 – The OSCE Office in Tajikistan today hosted an extracurricular day for 30 Afghan and Tajik students from the faculties of Engineering and Natural Sciences at universities in Dushanbe...

TIRANA, 28 March 2013 – The OSCE Presence in Albania, in partnership with the Italian Government, concluded the final phase of an in-depth training course in undercover techniques for nine police officers from the Internal Control Service of Albania’s Interior Ministry...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 28 March 2013 – The acting Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Paivi Nikander, strongly condemned today the physical assault on prominent human rights activist Nazlie Bala, which took place last night...

The OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, the Moscow State University and the Russian Union of Journalists on 28 March 2013 published a course book for journalism students writing about human trafficking...

ASTANA, 28 March 2013 – An OSCE-supported forum on current problems in implementing penal policies in Kazakhstan was held in Astana today...

Montenegro’s Department for Gender Equality of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights celebrated its tenth anniversary at an event in Podgorica on 26 March 2013...

TIRANA, 27 March 2013- The OSCE Presence in Albania, together with Justice Minister Eduard Halimi and the Deputy Chair of the High Council of Justice, Elvis Çefa, presented a report on the Albanian civil justice system today...

GENEVA, 27 March 2013- The OSCE Chairperson's Special Representative for conflicts, Ambassador Andrii Deshchytsia, emphasized Ukraine’s commitment as 2013 OSCE Chair to building confidence and addressing humanitarian needs on the ground at the 23rd meeting of the Geneva International Discussions today...

ASTANA, 27 March 2013 – A roundtable discussion supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana on the prospects for reforming Kazakhstan’s media legislation was held in Astana today...

ASHAGABAT, 27 March, 2013 – Some thirty key experts and officials of Turkmenistan’s oil, gas, energy, economic and financial sectors and academia attended an OSCE-supported workshop on energy diplomacy that concluded in Ashgabat today...

DUSHANBE, 27 March 2013 – Twelve Afghan and five Tajik senior customs officers completed a one-week training course organized by the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) in Dushanbe in partnership with the Austrian Ministry of Finance today...

TIRANA, 26 March 2013 – The Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, hosted a working lunch for women parliamentarians today, to highlight achievements in promoting the role of women in political life and encourage the further increase of women’s representation in the new legislature...

The Director of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, Alexey Lyzhenkov, met Jean-Michel Louboutin, the Executive Director Police Services of Interpol in Lyon on 26 March 2013 and discussed co-operation between the OSCE and Interpol...