News and press releases

PRISTINA, 26 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is deeply concerned- concerns which are fully shared by UNMIK- that FRY authorities have not yet authorized technical preparations for the Kosovo Assembly Election Day on 17 November

BELGRADE, 26 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission to the FRY welcomes the decision of Yugoslav authorities to join the direct communication network between capitals of OSCE States for exchanging messages concerning military activities

VIENNA, 25 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, today underscored the strong partnership of his organization with the OSCE, in particular with regard to field operations...

PRISTINA, 25 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE is calling on all voters in Kosovo to make sure they know where their polling station is before election day in order to avoid long queues and confusion on 17 November...

KYIV, 24 October 2001 (OSCE)-- On 22 and 23 October, a regional seminar on the implications of the European Convention on Human Rights for the work of law enforcement bodies was held in Ukraine...

DUSHANBE, 24 October 2001 (OSCE)-- A two-day seminar on the role of human rights NGOs in protection of human rights in Tajikistan highlighted the role of NGOs in civil society, their co-operation with state authorities...

BAKU, 24 October 2001 (OSCE)-- On 21- 24 October 2001, Adrian Severin, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, paid an official visit to Azerbaijan to acquire a deeper insight into the present situation in the country...

BUCHAREST, 24 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, welcomes the redeployment, last Monday, of police officers of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia into the five pilot villages

MOSCOW, 23 October 2001 (OSCE)- Security issues dominated the meeting today between the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana and the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Mr. Igor Ivanov

SKOPJE, 23 October 2001 (OSCE)-- Max van der Stoel, President of the International Board of the South-East European (SEE) University Foundation, will host a press conference tomorrow to inform about the progress of the SEE University...

ZAGREB, 22 October 2001 (OSCE)- OSCE officials are visiting Croatia, from 22 to 24 October, to gain a first-hand impression of a number of war-affected areas in the country where the OSCE has offices. The OSCE Mission to Croatia is hosting the visit...

KYIV, 22 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Project Co-ordinator, in co-operation with ODIHR, has launched a project aimed at protecting witnesses and victims of human trafficking and organized crime in Ukraine.

TASHKENT, 22 October 2001 (OSCE)-- "Uzbekistan has a unique opportunity to change its destiny. By deciding to take part in the broad coalition against terrorism, it has moved one step further towards its integration with the wider world...

SKOPJE, 22 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The redeployment of Macedonian police into areas affected by this year's crisis saw a successful start today. Ethnically mixed police patrols, accompanied by OSCE police advisors entered the five 'pilot' villages

PRISTINA, 22 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission in Kosovo expresses its deep concern over the attack which took place last Friday night, 19 October, near Skenderaj, in which two people were killed and another seriously wounded...

VIENNA, 22 October 2001 (OSCE)- At a special two-day OSCE meeting which opened today, more than 150 government representatives, international experts and human rights activists from 55 OSCE countries are discussing ways...

MITROVO POLJE, 19 October 2001 (OSCE)- The first group of OSCE-trained multi-ethnic police officers received this week their graduation papers in Mitrovo Polje, Serbia. The 97 police officers, 34 Serbs and 63 ethnic Albanians that will...

VIENNA, 19 October 2001 (OSCE)- "The Government and political leadership of Tajikistan have expressed total solidarity with the American people and a willingness to closely co-operate with the international community to form a global front aimed...

COPENHAGEN, 19 October 2001 (OSCE)-- Between 21 and 29 October, Adrian Severin, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, will pay an official visit to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, to acquire a deeper insight...

SKOPJE, 18 October 2001 (OSCE)-- "The OSCE is here to assist the Macedonian Government in regaining control over its territory and, through this, to help the displaced population to return to their homes", concluded the OSCE Chairman-in-Office...

VIENNA, 18 October 2001 (OSCE)- The 55-nation Permanent Council of the OSCE adopted a statement at its plenary meeting today reaffirming the fundamental importance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

VIENNA, 18 October 2001 (OSCE)- The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wolfgang Petritsch, and the Head of the OSCE Mission there, Robert M. Beecroft, have welcomed the progress made and called for more efforts

PRISTINA, 18 October 2001 (OSCE)-- Kosovo will be seeing its own Bar/Judicial Exam for the first time in nearly a decade, with the support of the OSCE...

SARAJEVO, 18 October 2001 (OSCE)- The armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina have participated in two simultaneous experimental aerial observation flights which took place on 17 October 2001 in the Federation and Republika Srpska respectively...

BUCHAREST, 17 October 2001 (OSCE)- The Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, expresses his concern about the recent developments in Georgia's breakaway...

BERLIN, 17 October 2001 (OSCE)- At a two-day OSCE conference on combating trafficking in human beings government representatives and international experts expressed determination to more effectively fight against this modern form of slavery.

KYIV, 16 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine held the third seminar on "Strategies in the Fight against Corruption" on 15 and 16 October, in cooperation with the country's Public Prosecutor General.

PRISTINA, 16 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The Central Election Commission (CEC) has agreed to the lists of candidates submitted by political entities to contest Kosovo's election next month. In all, 1,282 candidates have been approved...

PRISTINA, 16 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the Project on Ethnic Relations are organizing a second round table to bring together Albanian, Serb and other ethnic community leaders. The Project on Ethnic Relations...

TBILISI, 16 October 2001 (OSCE)- An 18-nation Delegation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe met today with the President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, as a concluding note of a four-day visit to the country...

PRISTINA, 15 October 2001 (OSCE)-- Three political entities that broke Kosovo's election rules have been fined by the Election Complaints and Appeals sub Commission (ECAC)...

VIENNA, 12 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Secretary General, Jan Kubis, warmly congratulates the United Nations and its Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on his award of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize today by the Norwegian Nobel Committee...

TIRANA, 12 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The following statement was made today by Ambassador Geert-Hinrich Ahrens, the Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, following the release of the OSCE report on the 24 June 2001 parliamentary elections in Albania...

TBILISI, 12 October 2001 (OSCE)- An 18-nation delegation from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) arrived today in Tbilisi, Georgia, for a 4-day visit. The delegation is accompanied by representatives of the OSCE...

VIENNA, 12 October 2001 (OSCE)-- Bodo Hombach, Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, has welcomed the further intensification of co-operation between OSCE and Stability Pact in the past year...

PRISTINA, 12 October 2001 (OSCE)-- Anna Di Lellio, Kosovo's Temporary Media Commissioner, today stated that the refusal of the Kosovo newspaper Bota Sot to publish a correction of an incorrect sub-headline was an 'example of poor editorial...

VIENNA, 11 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The 55 participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) today adopted unanimously a statement in support of the actions of the United States to counter terrorism...

SARAJEVO, 11 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina today launches an initiative aimed at raising public awareness of the excessive level of military expenditures in the country...

COPENHAGEN, 11 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Adrian Severin, has appointed U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer as Chair of the Assembly`s Ad Hoc Committee on furthering oversight and accountability in the OSCE...

BELGRADE, 11 October 2001 (OSCE)- The OSCE Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is expressing its support to Ms. Bojana Lekic in her new position as the editor-in-chief of the news program of Radio Television Serbia (RTS)...

KYIV, 10 October 2001 (OSCE)-- In the framework of the project on "Model Administrative Courts", the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine together with the German Foundation for Legal Cooperation organized a training course for Ukrainian judges...

COPENHAGEN, 10 October 2001 (OSCE)-- During a meeting in Sintra, Portugal on 9 October, OSCE parliamentary leaders adopted a declaration entitled "Security through Solidarity", expressing outrage over the criminal and unjustifiable terrorist attacks...

PRISTINA, 9 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE is holding a series of seminars, beginning today, for candidates in the Kosovo Assembly election..

VIENNA, 8 October 2001 (OSCE)- The Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, fully supports the targeted strikes launched yesterday...

PRISTINA, 8 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The next step in the OSCE Mission to Kosovo\'s programme to update the voters\' list for the forthcoming elections on 17 November gets underway today and will run through 17 October...

KYIV, 8 October 2001 (OSCE)- Conflict prevention functions of the OSCE and its partner organizations are on top of the agenda of an OSCE seminar, which takes place on 8 and 9 October in Kyiv, Ukraine...

PRISTINA, 8 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission in Kosovo has welcomed the generous donation to election development from the European Agency for Reconstruction...

DUSHANBE, 4 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE and the Executive Apparatus of the President of Tajikistan have signed a Co-operation Agreement on the drafting and adoption of a new Administrative Code for the Republic of Tajikistan...

PRISTINA, 4 October 2001 (OSCE)-- The Senate of the University of Pristina approved a reform package for higher legal education, sponsored by the Kosovo Law Centre. The reforms will make legal education compatible...

VIENNA, 4 October 2001 (OSCE)- In Moldova, the OSCE has embarked on a project to dispose of the single largest munitions and weapons stockpile left behind by the Soviet army, in total more than 40,000 tons of material...