News and press releases

The first provincial-level border security meeting with representatives of border management agencies, government officials and residents of border areas in the districts of Kara-Suu and Aravan took place on 16 November 2011 in Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan...

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo launched on 15 November 2011 an essay contest for primary and secondary school students “Assembly as a Symbol of Democracy”...

ASHGABAT, 15 November 2011 – Reforming Turkmenistan’s media legislation to take into account new communication and information technologies was the focus of an OSCE-supported roundtable event that concluded today in Ashgabat...

YEREVAN, 15 November 2011 – The OSCE Office in Yerevan supported an expert workshop today to review and discuss the theoretical and practical issues of Armenia’s new draft criminal procedure code...

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier spoke about OSCE-EU co-operation during an addresss to the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs in Strasburg on 14 November 2011, ahead of the upcoming OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius on 6 and 7 December...

Training for six Tajik and five Afghan border guard officials started on 14 November at the Border Guard School Medininkai in Lithuania...

DUSHANBE, 14 November 2011 – Experts and policy makers from Central Asia will assess risks from climate change, discuss measures to protect environmental security in Central Asia and promote regional co-operation at a three-day event supported by the OSCE that began in Dushanbe today...

ASHGABAT, 14 November 2011 – An OSCE-organized seminar on education, rehabilitation and social reintegration of prisoners was held in Ashgabat today...

YEREVAN, 14 November 2011 – A compilation of articles on the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, its history and political context, and the experience of Armenia and other countries in implementing the Code was presented in Yerevan today...

TASHKENT, 14 November 2011- Alternative methods of dispute resolution as a way of protecting the legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities was the topic of an OSCE-supported international conference in Tashkent today...

An OSCE Mission-organized training on operational management for 21 mid-ranking Kosovo police officers concluded on 11 November 2011 in Vushtrri/Vučitrn...

VIENNA, 11 November 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today expressed concern about the increasing number of journalists harassed by police while covering “Occupy Wall Street” protests across the United States...

DUSHANBE, 11 November 2011 – Officers from the Afghan Border Police successfully completed an eight-week Patrol Leadership Course at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan today...

TSAKHKADZOR, Armenia, 11 November 2011 – Increasing human rights knowledge and strengthening the monitoring capacities of civil society organizations was the aim of a three-day training course that ended today in Armenia...

A one-day conference reviewing 2011 activities and plans for next year’s work of the OSCE-supported civilian mediation corps teams in Osh City and Osh Province in southern Kyrgyzstan took place on 11 November 2011...

NOVOPOKROVKA, Kyrgyzstan, 11 November 2011- An OSCE-sponsored training course on travel document security was completed in the Novopokrovka Border Troops Training Centre near Bishkek today...

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier met the Irish Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore in Dublin on 10 November 2011. They discussed Ireland’s 2012 Chairmanship of the OSCE as well as the upcoming OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius on 6 and 7 December.

The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, in her address to the Committee for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Bundestag on 9 November 2011 stressed the critical role that Parliaments can play in changing the perception of trafficking, especially in the field of labour exploitation...

ASTANA, 11 November 2011 – High-level officials and legal experts discussed judicial reform at an OSCE-organized conference in Astana today...

ASTANA, 11 November 2011 – Results of an OSCE project supporting the Ombudsman Institution in Kazakhstan were presented in Astana today...

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Ambassador Philip Remler and Moldova’s Defence Minister Vitalie Marinuţa launched on 10 November 2011 an information campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers of explosive remnants of war...

VIENNA, 10 November 2011 – A two-day OSCE meeting aimed at identifying ways to prevent racism, xenophobia and hate crimes began today with calls for greater efforts to combat hatred and intolerance...

On the occasion of the Day of the Neighborhood Police Inspector an OSCE-supported award ceremony for winners of a competition among inspectors of the Chuy and Talas Departments of the Interior Ministry took place on 10 November 2011 in Bishkek...

BISHKEK, 10 November 2011- An OSCE-supported open meeting to promote a constructive dialogue on the effects of exploration and mining took place in Bishkek today. Senior governmental officials, members of the parliament, representatives of non-governmental organizations, business associations, and mining companies participated...

TIRANA, 10 November 2011- The Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth issued the following statement today...

VIENNA, 10 November 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, in a letter to Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian expressed concern today over the growing number of libel suits filed against Armenia’s news outlets, and called upon the authorities to further reform the legislation to adequately protect the media in civil defamation cases...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 10 November 2011 – The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Werner Almhofer, condemned today the killing of a Kosovo Serb and the wounding of two others in northern Mitrovicë/Mitrovica last night...

WARSAW, 10 November 2011 – The trials conducted in the aftermath of the 19 December 2010 presidential election in Belarus highlighted the need for a substantial reform of the country’s justice system, Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said today following the publication of a report on the findings of ODIHR’s trial monitors...

TIRANA, 9 November 2011- Women active in political and public life and top officials of Albania’s political parties met for two days in Tirana at an OSCE-organized conference on enhancing women’s role in governance...

The Hungarian version of an OSCE manual on good practices in building trust and understanding between police and Roma and Sinti communities was launched at a seminar hosted by the Interior Ministry of Hungary in Budapest on 8 November 2011...

MADRID, 9 November 2011 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election assessment mission for the early parliamentary elections to be held in Spain on 20 November...

ZAGREB, 9 November 2011 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened a limited observation mission to monitor the 4 December parliamentary elections in Croatia...

YEREVAN, 9 November 2011 – A new project involving the OSCE Office in Yerevan to develop the Armenian small hydro power (SHP) sector, promoting environmental sustainability and energy security, was launched in Yerevan today...

OSH, Kyrgyzstan, 9 November 2011 – A final conference of a project under which the OSCE provided training to Water User Associations (WUA), irrigation equipment and construction material for canal renovation to reduce the potential for conflict over water distribution in Kyrgyzstan, took place today...

TASHKENT, 9 November 2011 – The advantages of international agreements on transport and harmonization of legislation as well as the environmental security aspects of transport are the focus of a two-day OSCE-supported seminar which started in Tashkent today...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 9 November 2011 – The fourth annual workshop on promoting law enforcement and judicial cooperation among source, transit and destination countries in response to human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Central Asia began in Almaty today...

TASHKENT, 8 November 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, welcomed today the readiness of Uzbekistan’s authorities to reform media legislation, which is needed to ensure media diversity...

VILNIUS, 7 November 2011- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, welcomed the Joint Declaration signed by the four countries involved in the regional process on ending displacement and ensuring solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), in Belgrade today. He underscored the importance of this process for security and stability in South-Eastern Europe...

CHISINAU, 5 November 2011 – The mediators and the observers in the Transdniestrian settlement process, who concluded a two-day visit to meet the political leadership in Chisinau and Tiraspol today, welcomed the decision of the sides to accept the invitation of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to meet in Vilnius on 30 November-1 December for the first official 5+2 meeting following a nearly six years hiatus...

YEREVAN, 7 November 2011 – Carel Hofstra, Acting Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, and Armenian Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Yeritsyan signed a memorandum of understanding today to launch an environmental security project to address the risks of a toxic waste site...

The OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier met President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and the Mejlis Speaker Akja Nurberdyyeva on his first official visit to Ashgabat on 3 November 2011...

DUSHANBE, 4 November 2011- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, during her official three-day visit to Tajikistan starting today offered to the country’s authorities assistance and expertise of her Office to promote media pluralism and reform legislation...

BISHKEK, 4 November 2011- Building public trust in the judiciary through the fair selection of judges was the focus of a two-day training seminar that ended in Bishkek today...

The findings of a survey on media freedom in Montenegro were presented at a roundtable event in Podgorica on 2 November 2011. The event was organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro in co-operation with the Culture Ministry and the non-governmental organization the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights...

The OSCE Presence in Albania, in co-operation with the Ministry of Education and Science, organized a study visit for 50 students from Vlora, Kukës and Tirana to meet President Bamir Topi, Assembly Speaker Jozefina Topalli, Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the Head of the Constitutional Court, Bashkim Dedja on 4 November 2011...

The importance of protecting human rights while investigating terrorist crimes was highlighted in two training courses for law enforcement officers held by the OSCE in Prishtinë/Priština (31 October–1 November 2011) and Skopje (3–4 November)...

The OSCE Mission to Moldova issued a call for applications for a two-day training seminar on establishing and managing professional and financially sustainable online media outlets held by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and the Mission on 29 and 30 November 2011 in Vadul-lui-Voda...

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou addressed the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on 3 November 2011...

VIENNA, 3 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) and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office) presented their annual report of activities on November 3 to the Permanent Council of the OSCE, in light of the upcoming OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius...

VIENNA, 3 November 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou today laid out a vision to strengthen the world’s largest regional security organization during a speech before the Organization’s diplomatic body, the Permanent Council...