News and press releases

On 18 September 2012 the OSCE Mission to Moldova hosted a roundtable discussion in Tiraspol with civil society and local authorities representatives on human rights issues. The event was held in co-operation with Resonance, a Bender-based non-governmental organization...

ERGNETI, 24 September 2012 – On 24 September, the 26th meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), co-facilitated by the EU Monitoring Mission and the OSCE, took place in Ergneti...

QABALA, Azerbaijan, 24 September 2012 – The OSCE Office in Baku and the Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA), in co-operation with the Global Fire Monitoring Centre and Azerbaijan’s Emergency Situations Ministry launched today a two-day training course on fire management...

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented two new sets of guidelines on human rights education at the OSCE’s annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw on 24 September 2012...

Students of the Rubinstein Musical College in Tiraspol could enjoy jamming with world class jazz musicians in the framework of a workshop, supported by the OSCE Mission to Moldova on 21 September 2012...

MINSK, 24 September 2012 – Many OSCE commitments on citizen’s democratic rights to associate, to stand as candidates and to express themselves freely were not respected in yesterday’s parliamentary elections in Belarus, concluded the international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA)...

WARSAW, 24 September 2012 – Governments have to respect universal values of democracy and human rights in practice for there to be any stable system of security, speakers said at the opening of this year’s OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw today...

Some 24 police officers taking part in an OSCE-supported course which started on 24 September 2012 in Skopje will learn how to better evaluate and improve the quality of basic training...

ASHGABAT, 23 September 2012 – The fourth in a series of OSCE seminars to help civil society representatives in Turkmenistan’s regions improve their skills to manage projects, mainstream gender issues in their work, and effectively communicate concluded today in Ashgabat...

BELGRADE, 21 September 2012 – Safeguarding and promoting media freedom was the focus of the Second OSCE South East Europe Media Conference that finished in Belgrade today...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 21 September 2011 – A two-day conference supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana concluded today in Almaty...

ASHGABAT, 21 September 2012 – Representatives of penitentiary institutions from across Turkmenistan participated in an OSCE-supported course on health-related rights of prisoners in Ashgabat today...

The OSCE Gender Section held on 21 September 2012 in Vienna a discussion on gender-sensitive policing, its benefits and the challenges it faces, as well as the possibilities for gender mainstreaming within police forces in the OSCE region. The discussion was held on the margins of the OSCE’ Annual Police Expert Meeting which gathers police and security experts from the 56 OSCE participating States...

KARAGANDA, Kazakhstan, 21 September 2012 – The fourth and final of a series of OSCE-supported training courses for journalists on environmental matters started today in Karaganda, central Kazakhstan...

CHISINAU, 20 September 2012- The Representative of the Irish Chair-in-Office of the OSCE, Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton, visiting Moldova today emphasized the need to maintain momentum in the negotiations on a political settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict...

KYIV, 20 September 2012- Raising the awareness of voters in Ukraine about their legal rights, electoral procedures and the importance of elections is focus of a nation-wide awareness campaign that started today with the support from the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) and the country’s Central Election Commission...

Eighty law students and young lawyers are taking part in a four-day all-Ukraine law forum that started on 20 September 2012 in Sevastopol in Crimea, with support from the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU)...

The Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries (TURKPA), Ramil Hasanov, addressed representatives of the 56 OSCE participating states at a Permanent Council meeting in Vienna on 20 September 2012...

The Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia, Sergi Kapanadze, addressed representatives of the 56 OSCE participating States at a Permanent Council meeting in Vienna on 20 September 2012. Kapanadze outlined his country’s perspectives on security in the region and on the role of the OSCE.

DUSHANBE, 20 September 2012- A three-day regional training workshop on the implementation of an Authorized Economic Operator programme and the use of ICT and non-intrusive inspection methods by customs agencies started at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe today...

BELGRADE, 20 September 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today urged the Serbian government to accelerate reforms to safeguard media freedom...

VIENNA, 20 September 2012- Experts from academia, the private sector and criminal justice bodies will discuss ways to fight cybercrime at the OSCE’s annual police experts meeting which started in Vienna today...

VIENNA, 19 September 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, today expressed concern once again about police treatment of the media covering demonstrations marking the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City...

VIENNA, 19 September 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, expressed concern today over legislative steps towards re-criminalizing defamation in Ukraine...

DUSHANBE, 19 September 2012 – A five-day course for Afghan and Tajik customs officers co-organized with the Austrian Finance Ministry opened the new academic year at the OSCE Border Management Staff College. Today 14 trainees were awarded with certificates for successful completion of the training programme...

MINSK, Belarus, 19 September 2012 – Matteo Mecacci (MP, Italy), the special co-ordinator to lead the OSCE short-term election observation in Belarus, today issued the following statement upon learning that two parliamentarians from Germany and Lithuania, who planned to observe the elections, were told they would be denied visas by the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

A team from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) visited Belgrade from 17 to 19 September 2012 to present the final report of the Limited Election Observation Mission for the 6 and 20 May parliamentary and early presidential elections in Serbia...

On 19 September 2012, Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, spoke at a presentation of the 2011 Annual Human Rights Situation Report translated and published with the support from the Centre...

TIRANA, 18 September 2012- The Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, welcomed today the approval of amendments to the Constitution by the Albanian Assembly, restricting the general immunity from criminal prosecution of Members of Parliament, judges and other high-level officials...

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier spoke before the Italian Parliament in Rome on 18 September 2012...

An OSCE-supported seminar on integrating gender issues into policies for civil servants from Kazakhstan started in Astana on 18 September 2012...

Uniform interpretation of the election legislation is the focus of two training seminars for Ukraine’s administrative court judges that started on 18 September 2012 in Odessa with support from the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU)...

VIENNA, 17 September 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today criticised a criminal conviction of Robert Frycz, the editor of Antykomor.pl website, for insulting the President of Poland, and called for decriminalization of defamation in the country...

TASHKENT, 17 September 2012- A three-day OSCE training course to help Uzbekistan’s diplomatic and consular personnel identify, assist and protect trafficking victims started today in Tashkent...

Four senior police and drug enforcement officials from Turkmenistan participated in an OSCE-supported study visit to the United States that concluded on 14 September 2012...

A group of 12 political parties’ activists, government officials as well as representatives of civil society and think tanks from Kazakhstan took part in an OSCE Centre-supported five-day study tour to Poland which concluded in Warsaw on 14 September 2012.

The fifth annual Central Asian security seminar took place at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek on 13 and 14 September 2012...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 15 September 2012 – The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Werner Almhofer, marking International Democracy Day, highlighted the importance of public participation and transparency in political decision-making...

The OSCE’s Gender Section held a discussion on gender and economy on the margins of the 20th Annual Economic and Environmental Forum in Prague on 14 September 2012...

ASHGABAT, 14 September 2012 –An OSCE-organized training course on maritime border patrolling and surveillance methods concluded in the Caspian coast town of Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan today...

BAKU, 14 September 2012- Some 25 civil society activists are learning about using alternative and shadow reports in advocacy and co-operation with international human rights institutions at a three-day OSCE-supported workshop that started today. The OSCE is co-sponsoring the event with the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) and Counterpart International supported by USAID...

PODGORICA, 14 September 2012 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened a limited election observation mission to monitor the 14 October early parliamentary elections in Montenegro...

A two-day high-level meeting on international trade, trade facilitation and aid for trade was held on 13 and 14 September 2012 in Almaty with the OSCE’s participation...

ASTANA, 13 September 2012 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier paid his first official visit to Kazakhstan today, meeting with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev and top officials...

DUSHANBE, 13 September 2012 – The OSCE Office observes and supports an operation to destroy small arms and light weapons which started in Dushanbe today...

BELGRADE, 13 September 2012 – Legal experts, judges, prosecutors and lawyers from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina discussed regional experiences with reformed criminal procedure codes at an OSCE-organized conference in Belgrade today...

VIENNA, 13 September 2012 – The latest round of official 5+2 talks towards a Transdniestrian settlement concluded in Vienna today...

ASTANA, 12 September 2012 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier participated in a meeting of foreign ministers of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures (CICA) today in Astana...

VIENNA, 12 September 2012 – Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, today warned that the lawsuit initiated by the official Hungarian News Agency against journalist György Balavany can constrain media pluralism on the Internet...

A report on monitoring human rights in remand prisons and penitentiaries under Kyrgyzstan’s state penitentiary service GSIN was presented at a roundtable discussion on 12 September 2012 in Bishkek...