News and press releases

VIENNA, 16 January 2013 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned recent fire bomb attacks outside the houses of journalists in Greece, and said she hoped investigations would soon bring the perpetrators to justice...

DUSHANBE, 16 January 2013 –A roundtable meeting on disengagement, rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners for violent extremism and terrorism-related offenses concluded today at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan...

Romania’s parliamentary elections on 9 December 2012 were administered professionally and efficiently, concludes the final report of OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights’ Election Expert Team, which adds that more can be done to bring the legal framework further in line with OSCE commitments and other international standards...

YEREVAN, 16 January 2013 – A three-day OSCE-supported workshop for Armenian law enforcement officials dealing with investigation and prosecution of election fraud and corruption started today in Yerevan...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 15 January 2013 – The OSCE Mission in Kosovo acting head Paivi Nikander today condemned the desecration of several dozen tombstones at the Orthodox graveyard in Fushë Kosove/Kosovo Polje town...

VIENNA, 15 January 2013 – The OSCE Representative on freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, said today she was concerned over the excessive use of force against journalists by riot police during a recent public protest in Baku.

VIENNA, 14 January 2013- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today expressed concern about amendments to the public broadcasting legislation that would create another public service broadcaster in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus damaging financial sustainability of the current public broadcasting system...

YEREVAN, 11 January 2013 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today announced the opening of its election observation mission for the presidential election to be held in Armenia on 18 February...

VIENNA, 8 January 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, said today she was concerned about the recent attacks and threats against journalists in Northern Ireland and urged the authorities to unequivocally condemn them...

KYIV, 7 January 2013- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara, called today for restraint and dialogue following an incident between residents in the southern border region of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan...

Lithuania’s parliamentary elections on 14 October 2012 were conducted with respect for fundamental freedoms, concludes the final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), although certain aspects of the legal framework, political party financing and the media environment could benefit from review...

The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 28 October 2012 parliamentary elections in Ukraine concludes the elections were characterized by the lack of a level playing field, and recommends measures to improve the transparency and impartiality of the election process...

KYIV, 1 January 2013 – Ukraine will seek to make progress on resolving protracted conflicts, strengthening conventional arms control, combating human trafficking, reducing the environmental impact of energy-related activities, and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms as OSCE Chair in 2013 the new OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, said today...

VIENNA, 28 December 2012 – Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, expressed her concern today about threats to a newspaper in northern Italy and urged the authorities to carry out a swift and transparent investigation...

VIENNA, 28 December 2012 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern over recent developments that could further curb media freedom and threaten the safety of journalists in Turkey...

VIENNA, 28 December 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today welcomed the release from prison of two convicted journalists and a blogger...

BATKEN, Kyrgyzstan, 28 December 2012- A bulletin for residents in the neighbouring provinces of Batken in Kyrgyzstan and Soghd in Tajikistan was launched in Batken today with the support of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek...

Local governments using innovative ways to deliver services received the “Best Practices in Local Government in Montenegro 2012” awards in a ceremony held by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Union of Municipalities in Podgorica on 21 December 2012...

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore, extended his condolences to the families of those killed in the crash of a military plane near Shymkent in southern Kazakhstan on 25 December 2012...

SKOPJE, 25 December 2012 – The Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, Ambassador Natalya Drozd, called today on all stakeholders, including parliamentarians, their respective political parties, and the public at large to refrain from all violence and instead to utilize the legal means available in the country for a peaceful resolution of current political disagreements...

SHEVCHENKOVE, Ukraine, 21 December 2012- A train carrying 380 tonnes of a toxic rocket fuel component, which had been stored in deteriorating containers, left Ukraine today for Russia as part of a project supported by the OSCE...

The parliamentary elections in Georgia on 1 October marked an important step in consolidating the conduct of democratic elections in line with OSCE commitments, although certain key issues remain to be addressed, concludes the final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)...

BISHKEK, 21 December 2012 – The implementation of the new law on peaceful assemblies in Kyrgyzstan was the focus of an OSCE-supported discussion that took place in Bishkek today...

ASHGABAT, 21 December 2012 – Sixty-five students from the law faculty at the Magtymguly Turkmen State University attended an OSCE-organized course on comparative criminal law that concluded in Ashgabat today...

A two-week training course organized by the OSCE Mission on child protection and prevention of juvenile delinquency for 13 police officers concluded on 21 December 2012 at the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety in Vushtrri/Vučitrn...

From 19 October to 14 December 2012, the OSCE Mission to Skopje organized a volleyball tournament between students of eleven secondary schools as part of a project to prevent sports violence in the cities of Tetovo and Gostivar, in the western part of the country...

A two-week training course on hostage negotiation for the personnel of Kyrgyzstan’s relevant state agencies ended in Bishkek on 21 December 2012. The course was organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek in co-operation with the Antiterrorism Centre of the State Committee on National Security...

Facilitating efficient implementation of the laws on strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA) was the focus of an event organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism and the Environmental Protection Agency in Podgorica on 20 December 2012...

The Secretary General of the Co-operation Council of Turkic Speaking States, Halil Akıncı, addressed the OSCE Permanent Council on 20 December 2012 in Vienna...

The first phase of an OSCE-supported project to promote safety in schools will conclude in Skopje on 20 December 2012...

Representatives of the OSCE Centre in Astana joined some forty Central Asian water authority officials, non-governmental organization representatives and independent experts on 20 December 2012 in Almaty, Kazakhstan to discuss the introduction of integrated water resource management principles into the administration of three small transboundary rivers: the Aspar, the Isfara and the Ugam flowing through all Central Asian countries...

BISHKEK, 20 December 2012- The results of a needs assessment on the legal aspects of the work of press services of governmental institutions in Kyrgyzstan were presented in Bishkek today at an OSCE-supported conference...

The draft Law on Compensation of Victims of Criminal Acts was presented to representatives of relevant state institutions and civil society at an OSCE roundtable discussion held on 19 December 2012 in Podgorica...

ERGNETI, 18 December 2012- On 18 December the 29th meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, co-facilitated by the EUMM and the OSCE, took place in Ergneti.

Representatives from Jewish communities and civil society in the OSCE region met in Warsaw to share good practices in collecting data on anti-Semitic hate crimes, as well as effective responses, during a workshop organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 18 December 2012...

ASHGABAT, 18 December 2012 – Criminal-justice officials and members of the judiciary met at an OSCE-supported course in Ashgabat that concluded today to discuss protection of victims of human trafficking through a national referral mechanism...

The role of judges, prosecutors and law-enforcement agencies in combating hate crimes was the focus of a roundtable discussion organized by the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan and supported by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 17 December 2012...

The official website of the Information Disputes Council (IDC), an extra-judicial body publishing opinions or statements on and offering out-of-court solutions to freedom of expression related disputes, as well as a publication comprising IDC opinions were presented on 17 December 2012 in Yerevan...

VIENNA, 18 December 2012 – Reconciliation is key to overcoming the lack of trust and animosity with the aim to facilitate progress towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security community in the OSCE region, said participants at an OSCE workshop in Vienna today...

As part of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek’s support to the co-operation between state bodies, human rights organizations and the international community in addressing torture prevention in places of detention, the Centre, the Ombudsman, relevant governmental institutions of the Kyrgyz Republic and civil society organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 17 December 2012 in Bishkek...

An OSCE-supported workshop on long-term sustainability of humanitarian de-mining in Tajikistan was organized on 14 December 2012 at the Defence Ministry in Dushanbe...

CHERNIVTSI, Ukraine, 17 December 2012- Two automated stations to monitor the water level in the Ukrainian part of the Dniester River basin opened in Western Ukraine today with support from the OSCE...

A seminar for administrative-court judges on the judicial review of administrative disputes started on 17 December 2012 in Kyiv with support from the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU)...

PRISHTINE/PRISTINA, 15 December 2012 – Acting Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Elaine Conkievich, today condemned last night’s violent incident that forced cancellation of the presentation of Kosovo 2.0 magazine.

The role of public servants in enforcing professional integrity was the topic of an anti-corruption training seminar held in Przno by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro from 13 to 14 December 2012...

Montenegro’s “National Strategy on the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings 2012-2018” and the Action Plan for its implementation were presented by OSCE Mission and the National Co-ordinator’s Office to relevant institutions and journalists on 13 December 2012 in Podgorica...

Twenty-six representatives from the police educational institutions, police troops and patrol service participated in two four-day courses organized with the support of the OSCE Office in Yerevan from 3 to 14 December 2012...

DUSHANBE, 14 December 2012 – Afghan and Tajik border officers completed today in Dushanbe an OSCE training-of-trainers course as part of a series of training courses to enhance the capacity of Tajik border troops and Afghan border police to detect and interdict illegal cross-border movement...

During November and December 2012, the OSCE Presence in Albania helped children in urgent need in a number of towns by providing them with basic living and education items...

The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 23 September 2012 parliamentary elections in Belarus concludes that many OSCE commitments were not met, and offers recommendations to bring the conduct of elections in line with fundamental principles for democratic elections...