News and press releases

VIENNA, 26 September 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 26 September. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States...

WARSAW, 26 September 2011 – Events in North Africa featured prominently at the opening of this year’s OSCE human rights conference in Warsaw today, with speakers calling the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and other developments in the region a reminder of the importance of respecting human rights for ensuring stability and security...

Some 50 police officers from 27 regional police directorates will be trained in community policing principles during a two- week course for Community Liaison Officers, in Vrnjacka Banja from 26 September to 7 October 2011. The OSCE Mission to Serbia is holding the event together with the Interior Ministry...

A 10-day training course supported by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek to enhance security of the Kambar –Ata 2 hydropower station in central Kyrgyzstan started on 26 September 2011...

CHISINAU, 27 September 2011 – Investigating and prosecuting the financing of terrorism is the focus of a three-day OSCE-organized meeting that opened today in Chisinau...

BISHKEK, 26 September 2011 – Eight presidential candidates in Kyrgyzstan today signed a Code of Conduct for Elections that was developed with the support of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek...

ASHGABAT, 23 September 2011 – Training for judges and prosecutors was the focus of an OSCE Centre-organized study trip to Serbia and the Netherlands that concluded in Zutphen, the Netherlands, today.

CHISINAU, 23 September 2011 – Reform of the public broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova was the focus of a high-level conference held today in Chisinau by the OSCE Mission to Moldova...

ASTANA, 23 September 2011 – Promoting the principles of a green economy and sustainable development was the focus of a series of OSCE-supported events held during the Seventh Ministerial Conference on Environment for Europe which concluded in Astana today...

WARSAW, 22 September 2011- Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today expressed his concern and dismay about the execution of Troy Davis in the US state of Georgia...

Polish police officers will be able to better identify hate crimes and seek support for victims guided by a new hate crime information leaflet published today...

SARAJEVO, 22 September 2011 – The Committee for the Reform of History Teaching in Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded today a five-day study visit supported by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina to education institutions and organizations in Finland...

VIENNA, 22 September 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today urged the Ukrainian Government to help restore media pluralism in Kharkiv by allowing ATN news broadcaster back on air...

VIENNA, 22 September 2011 – A two-day Annual Police Experts Meeting (APEM) that started in Vienna today gathered some 120 international criminal justice experts who will share best practices and discuss how the reform of the criminal justice system can build capacity and increase effectiveness of the police structures...

KARAGANDA, Kazakhstan, 22 September 2011 – An OSCE-supported discussion on strengthening co-operation between the Ombudsman, state institutions and civil society was organized in Karaganda today...

NEW YORK/MOSCOW, 22 September 2011 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, welcomed today’s agreement in Moscow to resume official ‘5+2’ negotiations on the Transdniestrian settlement...

NEW YORK, United States, 21 September 2011- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier met the Council of Europe’s Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, and Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland in New York today.

The OSCE’s early response to emerging conflicts must include a human rights track next to conventional political efforts if human rights violations are at the root of a crisis, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, said at a meeting on enhancing the Organization’s early response capacities in Vienna on 20 September 2011...

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Aÿubalis, has condemned Tuesday’s bomb attack in Ankara that killed three people and injured 34 others...

ASHGABAT, 21 September 2011 – Some 20 spokespersons and press service representatives from Turkmenistan’s ministries and state institutions will share experiences and acquire new skills during an OSCE-organized training seminar that opened in Ashgabat today...

NEW YORK, 20 September 2011 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, today condemned the suicide bomb attack in Kabul that killed Afghanistan’s former President and Head of the High Peace Council Burhanuddin Rabbani, and extended his condolences to the families of all those killed, and to the Afghan people...

ASHGABAT, 20 September 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today during her first visit to Turkmenistan offered the country’s authorities her assistance to liberalize media legislation and called for greater access to the Internet...

A training seminar for judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers handling war crimes cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place in Sarajevo on 16-17 September...

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier met in Vilnius on 19 September 2011 to discuss developments in the OSCE area and priorities for the forthcoming Ministerial Council in Vilnius on 6 and 7 December...

The potential for enhancing early response to crises and emerging conflicts is the focus of a meeting in Vienna on 20 September 2011 hosted by the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre...

A series of seminars for teachers of journalism ethics and practicing journalists started on 19 September 2011 in Kyiv as part of a joint project of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the country’s Journalist Ethics Commission...

Ashgabat, 19 September 2011 – An OSCE-supported ‘train-the-trainer’ course on communication skills in customs opened at the Customs Training Centre in Ashgabat today...

VIENNA, 19 September 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, said today she was greatly concerned about reports the Metropolitan Police of London is seeking a court order requiring reporters to disclose confidential sources relied upon to investigate the News of the World phone-hacking scandal...

A series of training seminars for Ukraine’s administrative court judges, supported by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (OSCE PCU) starts on 26 September 2011 in Kyiv...

BISHKEK, 19 September 2011 – The OSCE Centre in Bishkek is supporting Kyrgyzstan to strengthen its national crisis management system with an OSCE-organized visit of four officials which began today...

DUSHANBE, 19 September 2011- The OSCE Office in Tajikistan is training 30 short-term election observers from throughout Tajikistan in a two-day course that started in Dushanbe today...

RIGA, 18 September 2011 – Yesterday’s early parliamentary elections in Latvia took place in a democratic and pluralistic environment and were marked by the rule of law, respect of fundamental freedoms, and functioning democratic institutions, observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded in a statement issued today...

During his visit to Ukraine on Thursday 15 September 2011, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier stressed that there are concerns within the OSCE community about the situation in Ukraine as the country begins its preparations for the 2013 OSCE Chairmanship...

The “Women in Governance” project by the OSCE Presence in Albania organized a summer School for women municipal and communal councillors elected in the 8 May local government elections from 12 to 14 September 2011 in Durres. More than 70 women councillors from all over the country and from across the political spectrum participated in the event...

The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, met the Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, in Warsaw on 15 September 2011 to discuss furthering strong co-operation between the two organizations...

SARAJEVO, 16 September 2011- The need to protect human rights while countering terrorism was the focus of a three-day training course for law enforcement officers that ended in Sarajevo today...

BISHKEK, 16 September 2011 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an observation mission to monitor the 30 October presidential election in Kyrgyzstan...

VILNIUS, 16 September 2011- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, today called for calm and restraint in northern Kosovo, and emphasized the need for constructive approaches...

PRISHTINЁ/PRIŠTINA, 15 September 2011 – On the occasion of International Democracy Day, 15 September, Ambassador Werner Almhofer, the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, made the following statement...

BISHKEK, 15 September 2011- A series of training seminars for prosecutors ahead of Kyrgyzstan's 30 October presidential election started today with the support of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek...

ALMATY, 15 September 2011- Twenty-five young development and environmental management professionals from state, business, non-governmental and academic organizations across Central Asia are taking part in a three-day training course as part of the Second Central Asian Leadership Programme on Environment for Sustainable Development which started today with the support of the OSCE Centre in Astana...

Finding environmentally-friendly ways to produce energy, and transport goods and people, is crucial in safeguarding our future. A photo contest organized by the 2011 Lithuanian Chairmanship of the OSCE and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities in May–July encouraged professional and amateur photographers to demonstrate their visions of the development of sustainable energy and transport—the theme of the 19th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum held in Prague on 14-16 September 2011...

PRAGUE, 14 September 2011 – Sustainable, efficient and environmentally friendly energy and transport policies are the focus of a three-day OSCE conference that opened today in Prague...

VIENNA, 14 September 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 14 September. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

ASTANA, 14 September 2011 – An OSCE-supported roundtable to discuss the conclusions and recommendations of a project on identifying victims of trafficking and related legal procedures began today in Astana...

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek supported the organization of two training courses on conflict prevention and conflict resolution for prison staff...

YEREVAN, 14 September 2011 – Assessing the risk of wildfires and developing and implementing national fire management policies was the focus of an OSCE-supported roundtable meeting in Yerevan today...

MOSCOW, 14 September 2011 – The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, presented ODIHR’s plans for observing the upcoming parliamentary elections to the Russian authorities during a two-day visit to Moscow which ended today...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 13 September 2011 – Despite tangible progress achieved by Kosovo institutions in policy development and the establishment of institutional mechanisms, the implementation of the Revised Strategy for the Reintegration of Repatriated Persons continues to lag behind, concludes an OSCE report published today...

BAKU, 13 September 2011- A five-day training course on online investigative journalism for 17 professional investigative reporters organized by the OSCE Office in Baku started today...