News and press releases

BATUMI, Georgia, 12 May 2012 – Regional co-operation on economic development is not only sound fiscal policy but key to peace and security, parliamentary and government leaders said today at the opening of a major economic conference in Georgia...

The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on Russia’s presidential election on 4 March 2012 concludes that the contest was clearly skewed in favour of one of the contestants and recommends measures to ensure a more balanced process...

VIENNA, 11 May 2012- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today condemned the beating of Greek journalist Konstantinos Bogdanos, and called for a swift investigation by the authorities...

VIENNA, 10 May 2012 – A two-day conference aimed at improving the control of explosive substances in order to hinder terrorists’ access to them, organized by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) started in Vienna today...

VIENNA, 10 May 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, expressed concern today over the indiscriminate detention of journalists reporting on street protests in Moscow and recent cyber attacks on Russian media websites...

COPENHAGEN, 10 May 2012 – Nearly 250 participants including more than 100 parliamentarians from 30 countries will convene in Batumi, Georgia 11-14 May for a conference focused on fostering economic co-operation, sustainable development and stability in the OSCE region...

VIENNA, 10 May 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, today appealed to Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko to stop persecuting media...

An expert team from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented, from 7 to 9 May 2012 in Sofia, the final report of the Limited Election Observation Mission to the October 2011 presidential and municipal elections in Bulgaria...

VIENNA, 9 May 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, welcomed today a new defamation bill announced by the Queen in the UK Parliament, saying it would augment media freedom in the UK and in other OSCE participating States...

Challenges in promoting freedom of peaceful assembly in the OSCE area are the focus of a two-day meeting of an expert panel which opened in Warsaw on 8 May 2012...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 8 May 2012 – The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Werner Almhofer, welcomed today the decision to return for review to the Assembly of Kosovo certain provisions of the new criminal code in Kosovo that threaten to diminish media freedom...

VIENNA, 8 May 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, said today she was very concerned that HRT, the Croatian Public Service Broadcaster, would dismiss journalists critical of the media freedom situation in Croatia...

VIENNA, 7 May 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today expressed her concern over a recent attack on Vladimir Vivici, a camera operator of OMEGA news agency in Chisinau...

BELGRADE, 7 May 2012 – Serbia’s parliamentary and early presidential elections on 6 May took place in an open and competitive environment, but additional efforts are needed to improve the transparency of the election process and the functioning of the media, international observers said in a statement issued today...

YEREVAN, 7 May 2012 – Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Armenia featured a vibrant and largely peaceful campaign, with overall balanced media coverage, but pressure on voters and a deficient complaints process created an unequal playing field, the international election observers said today...

The former Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia’s Rule of Law and Human Rights Department, Ruth Van Rhijn, received the Serbian Judicial Academy’s Annual Award for the Advancement of the Judiciary on 4 May 2012...

VIENNA, 7 May 2012- The OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier, today welcomed the peaceful conclusion of the OSCE-run ballot facilitation that allowed eligible voters in Kosovo to cast ballots in the 6 May Serbian parliamentary and presidential elections...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 6 May 2012 – All OSCE-run polling stations in Kosovo closed today after the orderly completion of voting, according to the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Werner Almhofer. The reported provisional turnout was 32.17 per cent...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 6 May 2012 – Voter turnout in the ballot facilitation in Kosovo was reported at approximately 17 per cent by 14:00 hrs today by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 6 May 2012 – All 90 polling stations in the OSCE-run balloting facilitation in Kosovo opened today by 08:15 hrs...

ASHGABAT, 5 May 2012 – Thirty students from the Institute of International Relations of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan successfully completed an OSCE-supported series of lectures on media in the modern world and genres of contemporary international journalism in Ashgabat today...

DUBLIN, 4 May 2012 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, condemned today the terrorist attacks that took place last night in Dagestan...

BELGRADE, 4 May 2012 – The Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Dimitrios Kypreos, made the following statement today in relation to the police operation in the south of Serbia this morning...

LEIPZIG, Germany, 3 May 2012 – Participants at an OSCE side event at the 2012 Annual Summit of the International Transport Forum discussed ways to ensure more effective border crossing procedures...

TIRANA, 3 May 2012- The Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, welcomed today the approval of the law on administrative courts by the Albanian parliament...

The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Werner Almhofer, outlined the OSCE’s role in facilitating voting in Kosovo for eligible voters in the upcoming elections for the parliament and president of the Republic of Serbia, at a press conference on 3 May 2012 in Prishtinë/Priština...

TUNIS, 3 May 2012 – Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, today urged all governments of the 56-nation OSCE to take real steps to secure freedom of speech...

ASTANA, 3 May 2012 – An OSCE training course on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) for Kazakhstani non-financial businesses and professions has taken place today in Astana...

ASTANA, 3 May 2012 – The challenges of developing a modern national population registration system were discussed today at a roundtable meeting jointly organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana and the Fund for the Development of Parliamentarism in Kazakhstan...

YEREVAN, 2 May 2012 – Training supported by the OSCE and the EU on the procedural and ethical aspects of election administration for precinct election commissioners will conclude tomorrow...

The OSCE Presence in Albania and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities organized on 2 May 2012 a senior-level meeting on strengthening the institutional capacities of “gender equality employees” at the central and local level in Albania...

TUNIS, 2 May 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today ahead of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May paid tribute to the courage of media workers and emphasized their essential role in the development of democracy...

An outdoor awareness-raising campaign to prevent gender-based violence started on 1 May 2012 with support from the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU)...

The OSCE Presence in Albania and the Tirana University presented on 30 April 2012 a new interdisciplinary Masters programme aimed at improving the standards of social services in Albania, in particular of those offered by the justice system...

DUBLIN, 30 April 2012 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore today welcomed the agreement reached regarding the facilitation by the OSCE of voting in Kosovo in the forthcoming Serbian parliamentary and presidential elections...

ERGNETI, 30 April 2012- The 22nd meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), co-facilitated by the EU Monitoring Mission and the OSCE, took place in Ergneti today.

YEREVAN, 30 April 2012 – International standards on probation and experience and good practices of other OSCE states were discussed today at an OSCE workshop in Yerevan...

Officials of the Internal Troops of Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry were trained in critical energy infrastructure protection at an OSCE-supported 10-day event which took place from 20 to 29 April 2012 at the Toktogul water power station in Kara-Kul town, Jalal-Abad province in southern Kyrgyzstan...

DUBLIN, 27 April 2012- The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Robert Bradtke of the United States, Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, and Jacques Faure of France, released the following statement today...

ASHGABAT, 28 April 2012- Thirty students from the Law Faculty of the S.A. Niyazov Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs completed today in Ashgabat an OSCE-organized lecture series on human rights standards at the pre-trial stages of criminal proceedings...

DUBLIN, 27 April 2012 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, condemned the blasts in Dnipropetrovsk today...

CHISINAU, 27 April 2012- The Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova welcomed today the resumption of railway traffic across Transdniestria after a six year hiatus, officially agreed by Moldovan Prime Minister Vladimir Filat and Transdniestrian leader Yevgeny Shevchuk...

ASHGABAT, 27 April 2012 – Thirty-eight military officials from the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan successfully completed OSCE-supported training seminars on the physical security and stockpile management of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and conventional ammunition (CA) today in Ashgabat...

YEREVAN, 27 April 2012 – A workshop by the OSCE Office in Yerevan on the rights of national minorities as envisaged in international and national legislation and measures to raise awareness of the issue among politicians, the media and the general public was held today in Yerevan...

Measures to increase women’s participation as political party candidates in Georgia were the focus of a three-day event co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Tbilisi from 25 to 27 April 2012...

DUBLIN, 27 April 2012- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, is hosting a high-level conference in Dublin today on the Northern Ireland peace process...

The OSCE Mission to Moldova hosted on 26 April 2012 in Chisinau a conference for donor organizations engaged in the development of media on both sides of the Dniester/Nistru river...

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek visited Romania on 23 and 24 April 2012 to discuss Romania’s relations with neighbouring countries...

YEREVAN, 26 April 2012 – The OSCE and the EU concluded four weeks of strategic and tactical planning training for Armenian police today in Yerevan...

BISHKEK, 26 April 2012 – A forum of non-governmental environmental organizations started today in Bishkek with the support of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek...