News and press releases

Accurate, verified and quality public information depends on journalists, which is why independence, freedom and safety are crucial for their professional work, said Dominique Waag, Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2022.

ABUJA/GENEVA/VIENNA/WASHINGTON D.C., 2 May 2022. In the light of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the continuation of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the monitors for freedom of expression and freedom of the media for the United Nations (UN), the African Commission of Human Rights (ACHR), the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (ItACHR), and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) issued the following joint statement:

CHISINAU, 30 April 2022 – Following recent developments in Transdniestria, the Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Artur Dmochowski and the Special Representative of the Polish OSCE Chairman-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process, Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, have concluded a two-day visit to the Republic of Moldova to convey the CiO's message of strong support for the stabilization of the situation in the country, peaceful, based on results-oriented dialogue solution of existing problems, and to assess the risks for the security situation in the region.

Participants at today’s OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation Group discussion shared experiences and best practices in addressing the specific needs of women, girls and vulnerable groups during natural and man-made disasters, including those resulting from armed conflict.

VIENNA, 28 April 2022 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, expressed her concern today over the recent targeting of media workers in Serbia, urging the competent authorities to take effective measures to identify and prosecute all those responsible.

Promoting women’s participation in the Uzbek energy sector was at the centre of an event organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, jointly with the Kazakh-German University and the Tashkent State Technical University on 28 April in Tashkent.

WARSAW/VIENNA, 28 April 2022 –OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid have today announced that the OSCE would take immediate steps to implement the closure of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

Strengthening Albania’s capacity to designate and impose targeted financial sanctions against individuals and entities associated with terrorist groups was the focus of a three-day training course, which concluded on 28 April 2022 in Durres, Albania. The training course was jointly organized by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the support of the OSCE Presence in Albania.

The introduction of advanced technologies and innovative solutions for the development of hydrogen energy and the implementation of energy-efficient approaches were discussed at an online seminar organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat on 28 and 29 April 2022. This event is a continuation of a

A four-day workshop with the Central Election Commission (CEC) on reviewing electoral rules concluded in Struga, North Macedonia, on April 21. The aim was to review and align these rules with the current Law on General Elections and other related laws in Kosovo, as recommended by international observer organizations and the OSCE Mission, based on lessons learnt from previous electoral processes. During the workshop the CEC, supported by the Mission’s Election Team, identified issues that require legal change and prepared a set of recommendations for future reference by the Assembly of Kosovo ad-hoc Committee on improving and strengthening the electoral process and its advisory group. The CEC looked into the most important rules related to the registration and operation of political parties, the certification of political entities and their code of conduct, the election observers, as well as the electoral rules relating to the voter list and out-of-Kosovo voting. They were also briefed on international standards and good practices on elections. “Clear electoral procedures help both the CEC in smooth delivery of elections but also the public in increasing their confidence in the overall election processes,” said Nathania Tabone, the Mission’s Senior Election Legal Adviser. The changes to the electoral rules agreed upon by the CEC during the workshop will be finalized by the CEC in the coming weeks. The final draft regulations should be subject to a public consultation with other key electoral stakeholders, such as specialized civil society organizations on elections and Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel. The Mission will continue to provide the CEC, the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel, and their Secretariats with technical advice and expertise in line with international standards and follow up on the implementation of recommendations made by international election observation missions.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo concluded on 26 April 2022 a series of ten workshops on media and information literacy and digital media literacy for high school students. The workshops empowered students across Kosovo on how to use media literacy skills and critical thinking to identify fake news,

On 26 and 27 April 2022, the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat organized an online seminar on the tasks and functions of law enforcement and supervisory bodies in implementing the 2021-2022 Risk Management Action Plan (RMAP) on anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). The event

The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat organized an online seminar on 25 and 26 April 2022, focusing on transmission of electricity generated by solar, wind and combined stations to the central grid.   The two-day seminar brought together the lecturers and students of the Turkmen State Energy Institute and

WARSAW/VIENNA, 24 April 2022- OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zbigniew Rau, and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid call for the release of four national members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine detained in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Uzbekistan presidential election 2021: ODIHR election observation Uzbekistan presidential election 2021: ODIHR election observation mission final report Uzbekistan’s 2021 presidential election has shown that the recent reforms, which have introduced welcome improvements, have yet to result in a

CHISINAU, 23 April 2022 – Countering the risks of human trafficking amid the humanitarian crisis caused by attack on Ukraine was at the centre of a two-day visit to Moldova by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden), and the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Valiant Richey.

With the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Directorate for Sports and Youth, the Regional Youth Co-operation Office (RYCO) Local Branch Office in Montenegro organized the fourth youth camp on “Intercultural Competencies in Sports”, from 19 to 21 April 2022 in Budva for 15 young athletes from different sports disciplines.

On 21 April, the OSCE Mission to Moldova held an Anti-Trafficking and Gender Technical Co-ordination Meeting to discuss the impacts of the increasing refugee flow and the risks of trafficking in human beings.

From 11 to 13 April 2022, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro conducted her first official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov has expressed his support for Georgia’s efforts to increase opportunities for all, including national minorities, during his visit to the country between 11 and 16 April 2022. Abdrakhmanov commended Georgia’s new State Strategy for

Vienna, 21 April – Yesterday, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly hosted a Joint Web Dialogue on the Safety of Female Journalists Online: The Role of Parliamentary Action.

The effective investigation of money laundering crimes was at the center of a technical workshop held by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) with the support of the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia (ACC).

On 11 and 12 April 2022, the Personal Representatives of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for tolerance issues held meetings with representatives of the Council of Europe, the Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, and the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine has published a collection of leaflets and publications on chemical security risks to help civilians take care of their safety in the conditions of ongoing hostilities.

Terrorist financing encompasses the means and methods used by terrorist groups to finance their activities that poses serious threats to national, regional and international stability and economic growth.

On 12 April 2022, Ambassador Waag handed over nine sets of mobile journalism equipment to the journalists of daily newspaper Dan, while on 15 April, three sets of mobile journalism equipment, three laptops, two printers and a drone were delivered to the NGO Context and its investigative portal Libertas Press.

VIENNA, 14 April 2022 – Following the arrests of Mikhail Afanasyev, an award-winning editor-in-chief of the Abakan based Novyi Focus online magazine, and Sergei Mikhailov, founder of the Gorno-Altaysk based Listock newspaper, the OSCE Representative on Media Freedom, Teresa Ribeiro, today made the following statement:

Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented the  final report on Kazakhstan’s 2021 parliamentary elections during a visit to Nur-Sultan that took place from 10 to 14 April 2022. The experts discussed the report’s key findings and

On 13 April 2022, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz), in partnership with the Republican Commission on the Advancement of the Role of Women in Society, Gender Equality and the Family, Committee on Women and Gender Equality of the Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan organized the Second Forum on the Role of Women Parliamentarians in the Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

– As the Russian military attack against Ukraine continues, we mourn the victims of war and lament the millions forced to leave their homes and their country behind, seeking shelter and safety within Ukraine, in Europe and beyond. Children, women and the elderly are particularly vulnerable. Many victims of the war suffer from profound psychological trauma.

During his first official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 6 to 8 April 2022, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov encouraged the authorities to continue implementing reforms that can secure the representation and participation of national minorities in all spheres

The OSCE Mission to Skopje, and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) hosted an event on April 12 2022 that brought together law enforcement and judicial officials with representatives of the Jewish community of North Macedonia.

The OSCE Moscow Mechanism mission of experts undertaken by Professor Wolfgang Benedek, Professor Veronika Bílková and Professor Marco Sassòli presented their findings to the OSCE Permanent Council on 13 April 2022, collected in the report entitled ‘Report On Violations Of International Humanitarian And Human Rights Law, War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity Committed In Ukraine Since 24 February 2022’.

ERGNETI, 12 April 2022- The 106th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was held today in Ergneti, under the co-facilitation of Ambassador Marek Szczygieł, Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) and Ambassador Viorel Moşanu, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus.

On 17 March, and 11 and 12 April, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and the OSCE Transnational Threats Department together with the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, co-organized workshops on youth crime and drug use prevention in Nur-Sultan. The focus of the workshops was cross-agency co-operation through the exchange of best practices and lessons learned in this specific area.

A roundtable on empowering young women working in the energy sector in Central Asia, was organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, jointly with the Kazakh-German University and the Kyrgyz State Technical University on 5 April in Bishkek...

From 5 to 8 April 2022 a team of election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) met with electoral stakeholders in Mongolia to present the final report of ODIHR’s Special Election Assessment Mission to the 9 June 2021 presidential election. The report’s

RZESZOW, 8 April 2022- The Foreign Ministers of Poland, Sweden, and North Macedonia, representing the OSCE Troika met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Rzeszow, in Poland’s Podkarpacie Region. During a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the Foreign Ministers of Sweden, Poland and North Macedonia reiterated their call for the Russian Federation to end hostilities and withdraw its forces from Ukraine and expressed their full support in these challenging times.

Georgia’s 2021 local elections were competitive and transparent, but took place in the increasingly polarized atmosphere of a protracted political crisis. Contestants were able to campaign freely, although the environment was marred by widespread allegations of vote-buying, pressure on candidates

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Agency for the Management of Seized Asset of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized a two-day training course on extended confiscation of proceeds of crime in Sarajevo on 5 and 6 of April.

WARSAW, 8 April 2022 – Roma continue to face discrimination and marginalization where support and inclusion should be provided, a fact clearly demonstrated by the situation of Roma currently fleeing Ukraine, said the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on today’s International Roma Day...

VIENNA, 7 April 2022 – OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid has warned of the serious environmental damages caused by continued fighting in Ukraine, and their long-term effects across the region.

VIENNA, 6 April 2022 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro today reiterated her grave worries regarding the safety of journalists during the Russian ongoing military attack in Ukraine, as the death toll, injuries and harassment of media workers grows.

On 4 and 5 April 2022, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, in co-operation with the OSCE Academy in Bishkek and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), jointly hosted a two-day workshop on youth crime and drug use prevention in Dushanbe.

On 30 and 31 March 2022, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Teresa Ribeiro visited Belgium.

KYIV/VIENNA, 4 April 2022 – International assistance to Ukraine is urgently needed to strengthen the country’s capacity in humanitarian demining and Explosive Ordnance Risk Education. This was the main message by Ambassador Henrik Villadsen, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, today as he marked the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

VIENNA, 4 April 2021 – Protecting victims of human trafficking and upholding their rights is the focus of the 22nd high-level OSCE Alliance Conference against Trafficking in Persons, which opened today in Vienna with over 850 registered participants.

BELGRADE, 4 April 2022 – Fundamental freedoms were largely respected in Serbia’s 3 April presidential and early parliamentary elections, and voters were presented diverse political options, but a number of shortcomings resulted in an uneven playing field, favouring the incumbents, international observers said in a statement today. The combined impact of unbalanced access to the media, undue pressure on public sector employees to support the incumbents, significant campaign finance disparities and misuse of state resources resulted in unequal conditions for contestants, the statement says...

BUDAPEST, 4 April 2022 – Hungary’s parliamentary elections offered voters distinct alternatives and were well run, but while competitive, the process was marred by the pervasive overlapping of government and ruling coalition’s messaging that blurred the line between state and party, as well as by media bias and opaque campaign funding, international observers said in a statement  today.

Eight prominent women politicians from the Alliance of Women Parliamentarians of Tajikistan have helped promote the issue of gender mainstreaming in a study visit to Skopje, North Macedonia. The event was part of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe’s support to gender mainstreaming, and was jointly organized with the OSCE Mission to Skopje from 29 March to 1 April 2022.