News and press releases

VIENNA, 4 July 2011 – Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić called for deepening multilateral co-operation to address common challenges and emphasized Serbia’s commitment to inclusive, consensus-based dialogue to address unresolved issues in the Balkans and other parts of the OSCE space...

BISHKEK, 4 July 2011 – An OSCE-supported course for police trainers from Kyrgyzstan's police academy, on policing in multi-ethnic societies, ends in Bishkek today...

Some 14 government officials from Tajikistan visited Armenia from 20 to 24 June 2011 to learn about Armenia‘s experience with designing policy priorities and a legislative and institutional framework for developing its renewable energy potential. The visit was organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan and the OSCE Office in Yerevan...

VIENNA, 1 July 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 1 July. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States....

VIENNA, 1 July 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, today asked President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko to put an end to the unprecedented repression of media after the 19 December 2010 presidential election...

A swift resolution of conflict-related property claims, including those on property restitution, must remain on the agenda of Kosovo institutions and the international community, as it is essential for the process of returns, economic development and inter-community relations, concludes the report presented by OSCE Mission in Kosovo on 29 June...

VIENNA, 1 July 2011- Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, called for deepening co-operation and enhancing the OSCE’s work to combat transnational threats in a speech to OSCE participating States today...

VIENNA, 30 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 30 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States....

The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, participated in a meeting of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Organized Crime in The Hague on 28 June 2011...

VILNIUS/VIENNA, 30 June 2011 – Ambassador Lamberto Zannier of Italy has been appointed the new OSCE Secretary General through a unanimous Ministerial Council decision by the 56 participating States, announced the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, today...

VIENNA, 30 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 30 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States...

VIENNA, 30 June 2011- NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen underscored the need for a comprehensive approach to security threats in Europe as well as in North Africa and the Middle East at the opening session of the OSCE’s Annual Security Review Conference in Vienna today...

VIENNA, 30 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 30 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States...

VIENNA, 29 June 2011 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, welcomed today's release of two French journalists who had been held by kidnappers in Afghanistan for a year and half...

VIENNA, 29 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 29 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States...

VIENNA, 29 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 29 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States...

URALSK, Kazakhstan, 29 June 2011 – Transparency and accountability in the management of oil, gas and other extractive industries revenues in the western Caspian Sea region of Kazakhstan is the topic of a one-day OSCE-supported roundtable discussion organized today in Uralsk...

TBILISI, 29 June 2011 – Political party funding and the participation of women in political life in Georgia are the focus of a meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Georgian Central Election Commission which started today...

MINGACHEVIR, Azerbaijan, 30 June 2011- Hundreds of people attended the Police Open Day held in Mingachevir today by the OSCE Office in Baku and the Interior Ministry to raise awareness of police activities and foster a closer relationship between the law enforcement and the public...

VIENNA, 29 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 29 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

The OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) hosted the sixth meeting of the Operational Working Group of the Interpol-led project KALKAN in Dushanbe from 28 to 29 June 2011...

VIENNA, 28 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 28 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States...

VIENNA, 28 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 28 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

YEREVAN, 28 June 2011 – Identifying ways to strengthen the independence of Armenia’s judiciary is the focus of a meeting organized today by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Office in Yerevan...

BEČIĆI, Montenegro, 27 June 2011- Judges from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and their peers from the region met in Bečići today to share experiences in adjudicating war crimes cases...

The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed an election expert team to Norway on 27 June 2011 to follow a pilot project on new voting technologies (NVT) that was put in place for the forthcoming 12 September municipal elections...

BISHKEK, 27 June 2011 – The draft Police Reform Concept for Kyrgyzstan 2011-2015 was debated during an OSCE-supported public hearing in the parliament today...

VIENNA, 27 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 27 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

VILNIUS, 25 June 2011 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, stressed today the importance to continue the efforts towards reaching a comprehensive peace settlement on Nagorno-Karabakh, while commenting on yesterday’s meeting in Kazan of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev...

SHABDAN, Kyrgyzstan, 24 June 2011 – Today in the village of Shabdan in northern Kyrgyzstan a newly-refurbished rural police station for Chon Kemin district was opened. The OSCE Centre in Bishkek financed the refurbishment of the station and provided new equipment, including a police vehicle donated last year...

The second and final part of a public hearing on the activities of the State Directorate for Reconstruction and Development of Osh and Jalal-Abad took place in Bishkek on 24 June 2011. The hearing examined the recent work of the State Directorate in providing housing. Interbilim, a non-governmental organization, presented a report based on its monitoring of the Department’s recent activity.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo in co-operation with the Kosovo Centre for Public Safety, Education and Development (KCPSED) and the Parents Organization of Children with Disabilities in Kosovo (OPFAKOS), an non-governmental organization, organized a two-day ’Mini Olympic Games’ for children with disabilities in Vushtrri/Vučitrn, 18–19 June 2011...

Some 50 representatives from political parties, municipalities and judges participated in three workshops on freedom of assembly organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan from 20 to 22 June 2011...

ALMATY, 23 June 2010 – A two-day regional forum on Internet development in Central Asia co-organized by the OSCE Centre started in Almaty today...

OSH, Kyrgyzstan, 23 June 2011 – Improving cross border trade between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan was the focus of a roundtable discussion, organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek today...

Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, told ambassadors from the 56 OSCE participating States on 23 June 2011 that a new study commissioned by her office indicates that attempts to regulate the Internet are increasing.

The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, met the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in Geneva on 22 June 2011...

A workshop to evaluate local governance reform in Kosovo, organized by the OSCE Mission, concluded on 18 June 2011 in Mavrovo in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

ODIHR issued a legal opinion on Kazakhstan's Constitutional Law on the Judicial System and Status of Judges to the Kazakh Supreme Court on 21 June 2011.

VIENNA, 22 June 2011 – Though the OSCE has contributed immeasurably to stability and democratic development in its region, the Organization's participating States must intensify their work to confront today's challenges, Ireland's Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, said today...

MOSCOW, 21 June 2011 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Protracted Conflicts, Ambassador Giedrius Čekuolis chaired a 5+2 meeting today in Moscow for the settlement of the Transdniestria conflict...

VIENNA, 21 June 2011 – The OSCE Strategic Police Matters Unit launched a new guide today for police on identifying and assisting victims of human trafficking...

VIENNA, 21 June 2011- The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 21 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States...

BISHKEK, 21 June 2011- A two-day regional conference on the rights of minorities started in Bishkek today. The conference is organized jointly by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, the Central Asian Regional Representation of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia...

BAKU, 22 June 2011 – The OSCE Office in Baku today announced that four non-governmental organizations that work in the field of environment and security will receive small grants to finance their work...

A roundtable discussion on a project to promote public safety, co-organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the non-governmental organization Neighbourhood Watch, was held in Bishkek on 21 June 2011...

WARSAW, 21 June 2011 – Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said more must to be done to end the persisting segregation and discrimination of Roma children in the Czech school system following the release of a United Nations report today...

The OSCE Office in Tajikistan's Khujand Field Office, the Sughd regional authorities and the Civil Society Centre held a roundtable meeting on 21 June 2011 to mark 14th anniversary of the Peace Agreement in Tajikistan...

VIENNA, 21 June 2011- Ireland's Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, will address the OSCE on Wednesday...

VIENNA, 21 June 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, expressed concern today about laws and resolutions recently adopted by the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan that could potentially limit media pluralism in the country...