News and press releases

AKTAU, Kazakhstan, 6 December – A three-day workshop on education for sustainable development organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana, the Central Asia Regional Environmental Centre (CAREC) and the recently established Aktau Aarhus Centre began in Aktau today...

CHIŞINĂU, 6 December 2011 – Draft regulations on the legal framework governing election coverage and political campaigning in the media during the election period were presented today at a roundtable meeting in Chişinău held by the OSCE Mission to Moldova and the non-governmental Association for Participatory Democracy...

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, spoke to journalists during the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius on 6 December 2011. Audio recording of the briefing

VILNIUS, 6 December 2011 – A meeting of international and regional organizations to promote closer co-ordination of responses to changes in the southern Mediterranean was held by OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe in Vilnius today...

The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, gave a briefing to journalists on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial council in Vilnius on 6 December 2011.

VILNIUS, 6 December 2011- On the occasion of the OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting in Vilnius, the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries (Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Lavrov, Secretary of State of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Minister for European Affairs of France Jean Leonetti) and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian reaffirmed the importance of reaching a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier welcomed a joint research initiative of France, Germany, Poland and Russia announced at the start of the OSCE Ministerial Council on 6 December 2011...

A two-day forum co-organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana to discuss contemporary challenges faced by the media in Kazakhstan was held in Almaty on 5 and 6 December 2011...

VILNIUS, 6 December 2011 – Ensuring security in the OSCE region requires further efforts to tackle transnational threats, prevent and resolve conflicts, and engage meaningfully with partners in the Mediterranean and Asia, foreign ministers of the 56 OSCE participating States heard at the start of the 18th OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius today...

Civil society in the OSCE Mediterranean Partner States could benefit from greater OSCE engagement in strengthening capacity at a time of rapid change and transition in the Middle East and North Africa, participants said at the end of a two-day conference in Vilnius on 5 December 2011...

BONN, Germany, 5 December 2011 – The OSCE seeks to intensify its support for international and regional efforts to promote long-term security and stability in Afghanistan, said OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier at the International Afghanistan Conference in Bonn today...

VILNIUS, 5 December 2011 – Foreign ministers and high-level representatives of the 56 OSCE participating States will meet in Vilnius tomorrow to discuss progress on pressing security challenges and take decisions to chart the way ahead.

The parliamentary elections held on 4 December in Croatia took place in a pluralistic environment and were administered in a professional and transparent manner, but further steps should be taken to improve the process, the OSCE/ODIHR limited election observation mission concluded in a preliminary report...

MOSCOW, 5 December 2011 – Despite the lack of a level playing field during the Russian State Duma elections, voters took advantage of their right to express their choice, the international observers concluded in a statement issued today...

Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, has released a brochure/leaflet raising awareness on issues of journalists’ safety in advance of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Vilnius on 6 and 7 December 2011.

VILNIUS, 4 December 2011 – Encouraging international co-operation between civil society groups from OSCE participating States and Mediterranean Partners at a time of rapid change and transition in the Middle East and North Africa was highlighted at the start of a two-day conference in Vilnius today...

PRISHTINЁ/PRIŠTINA, 3 December 2011 – More than 250 judges are meeting today at the annual judicial conference to review the challenges the supreme and district courts face in administering justice and to advance strategies to overcome them. The conference is organized by the OSCE Mission, in co-operation with the Kosovo Judicial Council, the Supreme Court and Kosovo Judicial Institute.

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 2 December 2011- Acting Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Edward P. Joseph, condemned today the recent desecration of the Jewish Cemetery in Prishtinë/Priština, calling on law enforcement to investigate, and the municipality to repair the damage...

CHIŞINĂU, 8 December 2011 – Gender equality and non-discrimination in security sector policies are the focus of a two-day training event held by the OSCE Mission to Moldova, in co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), that started today in Chişinău...

A conference on state responsibilities and compensation standards in cases of human rights violations and mass torts was held in Kyiv on 2 December 2011, with support from the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU)...

A regional conference on media self-regulation for press councils, media institutions, journalists’ associations and academia organized by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo concluded on 2 December 2011 in Prishtinë/Priština...

ASHGABAT, 2 December 2011 – More than 30 students at the Institute of International Relations under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan attended an OSCE-organized course on human rights and international relations that concluded in Ashgabat today...

YEREVAN, 2 December 2011 – Measures to increase the number of women candidates nominated by Armenian political parties was the focus of a roundtable discussion organized today by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)...

KYIV, 2 December 2011- A roundtable discussion supported by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine to promote co-operation between the Ukrainian authorities and Kyiv-based embassies and consulates to prevent human trafficking was held today...

URALSK, Kazakhstan, 2 December 2011 – A two-day OSCE-supported seminar on effective ways for civil society and the media to interact with the government and private companies in implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Western Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea region began today in Uralsk...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 2 December 2011 – A roundtable discussion on the status of self-employed women organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana in co-operation with the Civil Society Development NGO began in Almaty today...

A special meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation, currently chaired by Kazakhstan, adopted a decision on 30 November 2011 on reissuing a document that encompasses key OSCE confidence- and security-building measures, the Vienna Document...

The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, addressed an expert seminar organized by the Polish Presidency of the European Union in Warsaw on 30 November 2011 on trafficking in human beings in the EU and Eastern Partnership countries...

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier met the newly inaugurated President of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambayev, on 1 December 2011...

Some 20 law enforcement investigators from the police services of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia participated in a three-day regional training course on the use of new computer software to fight cybercrime...

The Head of the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM), Udo Burkholder, addressed the OSCE Permanent Council on 1 December 2011. He outlined the activities and future priority areas of EUBAM, whose mandate was recently extended for the third time into 2015...

VILNIUS, 1 December 2011 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, said that the renewed official 5+2 negotiations on the Transdniestrian settlement, which concluded in Vilnius today, laid solid ground for the future work on promoting the conflict resolution...

CHIŞINĂU, 1 December 2011 – A set of recommendations on how to strengthen local commissions which monitor places of detention in Moldova was presented at a roundtable meeting held by the OSCE Mission to Moldova and the nongovernmental Moldovan Institute on Human Rights in Chişinău today...

SARAJEVO, 1 December 2011 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in partnership with the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, completed in Sarajevo today a series of seven roundtable discussions on war crimes processing...

Wendy Patten, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Gender Issues, in her report to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on 1 December 2011 stressed a need for effective implementation of legislation to combat domestic and other gender-based violence...

BAKU, 30 November 2011- The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Bernard Fassier of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, released the following statement today:

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, welcomed the participants of the renewed official 5+2 negotiations on the Transdniestrian settlement which started in Vilnius on 30 November 2011...

An OSCE-facilitated three-day regional training workshop for customs officers on implementing the World Customs Organization’s Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme concluded in Astana on 30 November. The AEO programme aims to facilitate and simplify customs processes and procedures, as well as to encourage public-private partnerships.

BISHKEK, 30 November 2011 – A roundtable discussion today organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the State Commission on Religious Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic gathered state officials, religious leaders and civil society representatives to discuss co-operation to promote freedom of religion or belief in law and practice...

BAKU, 1 December 2011 – A roundtable discussion on the draft law on alternative and renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan for policymakers starts today in Baku. The event is organized by the OSCE Office in Baku and the State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources, in co-ordination with the Energy Reform Support Programme of the European Union in Azerbaijan...

TASHKENT, 29 November 2011 – A three-day OSCE-supported workshop which started in Tashkent today will focus on building the capacity of the national police in advancing the implementation of human rights while addressing transnational crimes, such as trafficking and terrorism...

VILNIUS, 29 November 2011- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, today condemned attacks on KFOR soldiers in northern Kosovo...

A two-and-a-half day workshop for border service and customs officials began in Merke, on Kazakhstan's southern border with Kyrgyzstan, on 28 November 2011. The OSCE Centre in Astana organized the seminar in co-operation with the EU/UNDP Border Management Programme for Central Asia, the International Organization for Migration and the border services and customs agencies of Kazakhstan...

ASTANA, 29 November 2011 – A two-day OSCE-organized training seminar for judges on good legislative and judicial practices to combat trafficking in human-beings began in Astana today...

DUSHANBE, 29 November 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, warned today that Internet freedom is increasingly under threat in Central Asia and called for governments in the region to promote, not block, access...

VADUL-LUI-VODĂ, Moldova, 29 November 2011 – Journalistic and managerial skills for running sustainable Internet media are the focus of a two-day OSCE training seminar that started today in Vadul-lui-Vodă, a town on the Nistru/Dniestr River outside of Chişinău...

The first of two training seminars to improve the social services provided to victims of human trafficking and domestic violence began in Kyiv on 28 November 2011 with support from the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU).

Government representatives of Azerbaijan and Georgia met to discuss a draft bilateral agreement on the shared water resources of the Kura River Basin in Baku on 28 November 2011 as part of a joint OSCE-UNECE project under the Environment and Security (ENVSEC) Initiative...

A graduation ceremony for 21 high-level officials from the police, customs, Police Inspectorate of Kosovo, Special Prosecutor’s office and judiciary who participated in a five-day OSCE-organized training course on combating corruption within law enforcement agencies was held on 25 November 2011 in Vushtrri/Vučitrn...

VIENNA, 25 November 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today expressed concern over the wiretapping of journalists in Slovakia and asked the authorities to ensure a prompt and thorough investigation...