News and press releases

The collective efforts and expertise of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and the OSCE will contribute to enhanced prosperity, stability and security, BSEC Secretary General Ambassador Victor Tvircun told the OSCE Permanent Council – the Organization’s key decision making body- in Vienna on 14 February 2013...

The general elections in the United States on 6 November 2012 took place in a competitive environment and were administered professionally but further steps should be taken to bring the electoral process closer in line with OSCE commitments, concludes the final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)...

YEREVAN, 13 February 2013 – Staff from the Armenian Human Rights Defender’s Office and experts from its Rapid Reaction Groups today received training on electoral rights in preparation for the 18 February presidential elections...

TIRANA, 13 February 2013- OSCE Head of Presence in Albania Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth has called on the Central Election Commission to meet their responsibilities in the run up to the 23 June general elections...

TIRANA, 11 February 2013 – Ways to empower Albanian female politicians to run for leadership positions in the 2013 parliamentary elections is the main objective of a two-day event organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) that started today in Tirana...

On 7 February 2013, the Deputy Head of OSCE Office in Tajikistan, Hans Peter Larsen and the Chairperson of the Tajik State Committee on Investments and State Property Management, Davlatali Saidov signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a consultative council on improvement of investment climate in the five districts of the Rasht Valley in central Tajikistan...

YEREVAN, 11 February 2013 – A nation-wide training programme for precinct election commissioners that is being conducted with OSCE and EU support ahead of the upcoming presidential election was presented today in Yerevan...

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented the final report of the Limited Election Observation Mission for Montenegro’s early parliamentary elections last year during a visit to Podgorica which concluded on 8 February 2013...

ROME, 8 February 2013 – The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, called for greater dialogue and co-operation among Mediterranean States at a seminar today on human trafficking in the region...

CHISINAU, 7 February 2013 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for conflicts, Ambassador Andrii Deshchytsia, concluded a two-day visit to Moldova today...

A team from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) began a two-day familiarization visit to Georgia on 7 February 2013 in preparation for planned monitoring of trials involving senior political figures...

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek visited Serbia from 28 to 31 January 2013 to meet key Serbian officials, including President Tomislav Nikolić and Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, and to follow up on several issues of his concern in eastern and southern Serbia...

On 6 February 2013, the Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, met with General Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla to discuss the fight against organized crime and corruption, and the pivotal role of the Prosecutor’s office in strengthening the rule of law...

VIENNA, 5 February 2013- The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger, today strongly condemned an incident in northern Mitrovica involving an assailant throwing a hand grenade at a house, injuring two children...

ANKARA, 5 February 2013 – Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, in a productive meeting today with Turkish Justice Minister Sadullah Ergın, commended the government on easing pre-trial detention procedures and stressed the need for further improvements...

SARAJEVO, 5 February 2013 – Fletcher M. Burton, Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, met today with Goran Salihovic, the newly appointed BiH Chief Prosecutor, and expressed the OSCE’s continued commitment to support the work of the Prosecutor’s Office...

TIRANA, 5 February 2013 – Representatives of the international community in Tirana met today under the auspices of the OSCE Presence in Albania to exchange information and co-ordinate positions in view of the forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for 23 June...

An OSCE-supported project to allow web-streaming of sessions of the Armenian Central Electoral Commission (CEC) was publicly presented to the media and the international community in Yerevan on 5 February 2013...

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, met 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 as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, on 5 February 2013 to discuss the progress towards settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict...

CHISINAU, 4 February 2013 – The OSCE Mission to Moldova and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities today published a report on the situation of the eight Moldovan-administered, Latin-script schools in Transdniestria...

VIENNA, 4 February 2013- Improving the environmental footprint of energy-related activities and discussing ways to renew and deepen the OSCE’s political commitments and engagement in promoting environmentally sustainable energy management are the focus of an OSCE meeting that started in Vienna today...

KYIV, 1 February 2013 –The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara strongly condemned today’s terrorist attack against the U.S. Embassy in Ankara...

WARSAW, 1 February 2013 – The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, today expressed his grave concern over the shooting yesterday in Yerevan of Paruyr Hayrikyan, a candidate in Armenia’s upcoming presidential election...

Kyrgyzstan’s first resource centre on border delimitation and demarcation was opened on 1 February 2013 in the city of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan...

The OSCE Centre in Astana jointly with the Embassy of Norway organized a study trip to Oslo for parliamentarians and the head and members of the National Commission on Women’s Affairs and Family Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan from 30 January to 1 February 2013...

The OSCE Presence in Albania concluded on 30 January 2013 a project aimed at helping young people with disabilities more efficiently advocate their rights and get more involved in public life...

BELGRADE, 31 January 2013- The Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Peter Burkhard welcomed today the signing in Brussels of the agreement on evidence sharing in war crimes cases between the Chief Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia...

A team from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) visited Tbilisi from 29 to 31 January 2013 to present the final report of the election observation mission for the 1 October 2012 parliamentary elections in Georgia...

VIENNA, 30 January 2013 – Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, welcomed today the establishment of a commission to assess progress in the investigations of unsolved murders of journalists in Serbia, but emphasized that the government needed to step up its own efforts to protect journalists...

VIENNA, 30 January 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today welcomed the conviction of the murderer of Ukrainian journalist Georgyi Gongadze, while urging the authorities to continue to pursue the instigators of this crime...

On 30 January 2013, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, took part in a discussion in the Majilis (Lower Chamber of Parliament) of Kazakhstan on amendments to the draft law on trafficking in human beings...

ERGNETI, 29 January 2013- On 29 January the 30th meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, co-facilitated by the EU Monitoring Mission and the OSCE took place in Ergneti...

The first meeting of the OSCE MenEngage Network took place in Vienna on 28 January 2013. The Network was set up by the OSCE Gender Section to bring together men in senior positions in the OSCE who will engage in promoting gender equality...

KYIV, 28 January 2013 – The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, Ambassador Madina Jarbussynova, and the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Valeriya Lutkovska, signed a Memorandum on Co-operation in Kyiv today...

PARIS, 28 January 2013- On January 28, 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) met jointly with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, and the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian. Also participating in the meeting was the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

DUSHANBE, 28 January 2013 – The OSCE Office in Tajikistan, in co-operation with the Ministry of Water Management and Land Reclamation of Tajikistan, organized today a one-day workshop on common water management and environmental challenges in Afghanistan and Tajikistan...

KYIV, 27 January 2013 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day today with a call to honour the victims with renewed efforts to fight intolerance, discrimination and hate crimes...

A new study highlighting the value of parliamentary codes of conduct in promoting professional and ethical standards for parliamentarians was presented by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) at a conference in Vienna on 25 January 2013...

VIENNA, 24 January 2013- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern over the latest wave of arrests of journalists in Turkey and urged the authorities to reform the country’s anti-terrorism law...

COPENHAGHEN, 24 January 2013 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Deputy Secretary General Tina Schoen will travel to Armenia 29-30 January for a pre-election visit ahead of February’s presidential election...

The OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier, during his visit to Uzbekistan from 21 to 23 January 2013, discussed with the country’s Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev and other senior officials ways to strengthen co-operation...

All seven members of Albania’s Central Election Commission (CEC) participated in an electoral management course organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania in co-operation with other international organizations. The training course, in which they were joined by key CEC staff members, took place in Budva, Montenegro from 17 to 22 January 2013...

SARAJEVO, 23 January 2013 – Fletcher M. Burton, Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, speaking at conference on human trafficking, welcomed efforts to improve BiH’s response to combat this crime by improving criminal legislation at all four levels...

Some 40 senior managers from the Serbian Interior Ministry discussed the advantages of online professional development courses for police officers at an OSCE-supported event in Belgrade on 22 January 2013...

CHISINAU, 22 January 2013 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, speaking on today’s 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty between Germany and France, underlined its historic importance in reconciliation in Europe and stressed that it should inspire greater efforts in confidence building throughout the OSCE region...

Prishtinë/Priština, 21 January 2013 – The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger, strongly condemned today the desecration of Orthodox graveyards and religious monuments throughout Kosovo...

CHISINAU, 21 January 2013- The OSCE Chairperson, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, on an official visit in Chisinau today, urged the Moldovan and Transdniestrian leadership to prepare the ground for progress in the coming months' Transdniestrian settlement talks...

BELGRADE, 20 January 2013-- The Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Paula Thiede, expressed regret that the negotiations to find a compromise solution to the controversial monument in Preševo was undercut by the government’s removal of the monument this morning...

BELGRADE, 18 January 2013-- The Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Paula Thiede expressed dismay at the negative public campaign against the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Nevena Petrusic, in some Serbian media outlets...

VIENNA, 17 January 2013- Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara today announced his country’s priorities for the 2013 OSCE Chairmanship, with the progress on resolution of protracted conflicts, combating trafficking in human beings and promotion of the media freedom amongst key issues...