News and press releases

TBLISI, 25 June 2001-- Georgian, Abkhaz and South Ossetian drug specialists participated on 21 and 22 June at an OSCE-sponsored meeting held in Sukhumi, Georgia, where they familiarized themselves with regional drug-related problems...

VIENNA, 22 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, has noted the following cases of media harassment in Belarus:

VIENNA, 22 June 2001 (OSCE)-- On 21 June, Freimut Duve, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, spoke at the OSCE Permanent Council addressing his concerns regarding the central task of his mandate: the concentration of control of media

KYIV, 22 June 2001 (OSCE)- A group of Ukrainian judges met from 18 to 22 June 2001 with their Polish colleagues in Warsaw and Gdansk in order to draw from the Polish experience in the creation of an administrative court system.

SARAJEVO, 22 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina is deeply concerned about the Parliament\'s failure to adopt the Election Law, an essential piece of legislation for Bosnia and Herzegovina...

WARSAW, 21 June 2001-- The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) welcomes the initiative by the Albanian Central Election Commission on the issue of independent candidates...

VIENNA, 21 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, today appealed to all parties in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to put aside their differences and make a real effort to compromise...

PRISTINA, 21 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The lack of a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach to the needs of Kosovo\'s justice system has hampered its effectiveness, according to an OSCE report...

BUCHAREST, 21 June 2001 (OSCE)- The OSCE Ministerial Troika, represented by the Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, the Secretary General of the Austrian Foreign Ministry, Albert Rohan, and the Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama, met...

VIENNA, 20 June 2001 (OSCE)-- Users of the Internet can now access information on the Forum for Security Co-operation, the main OSCE body dealing with military aspects of security, on the OSCE website at www.osce.org/fsc...

ALMATY, 20 June 2001 (OSCE)-- Ambassador Wilhelm Höynck, the recently appointed Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for tasks in support of the participating States in Central Asia, will visit Kazakhstan from 22 to 25 June 2001...

DUSHANBE, 20 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission to Tajikistan yesterday officially launched the Russian-language \"Manual of International Acts on Human Rights\"...

VIENNA, 19 June 2001 (OSCE)-- Valeriy Shukin, a Belarus journalist and 13th Supreme Soviet Deputy, was incarcerated on 12 June 2001 for three months on charges of \"hooliganism.\" He was sentenced on 15 March...

TIRANA, 19 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The following statement was made today by the Head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) Presence in Albania, Ambassador Geert-Hinrich Ahrens at a press conference in Tirana:

PRISTINA, 19 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, has been holding a series of meetings in the Kosovo capital, Pristina

GENEVA, 18 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The newly elected Bureau of the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration met for the first time in Geneva.

SOFIA, 18 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The 17 June parliamentary elections in Bulgaria were generally in line with international standards on democratic elections, concluded the International Election Observation Mission in a statement issued today in Sofia...

SKOPJE, 18 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, visited Skopje today, in what he called \"one of the most important weeks for this country,\" in which \"we encourage a compromise be found.\"

SKOPJE, 18 June 2001-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, will visit Skopje on Monday, 18 June, leading a delegation which also includes the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Max van der Stoel.

TSKHINVALI, 18 June 2001 (OSCE)-- Ambassador Jean-Michel Lacombe, Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, handed over an OSCE grant in form of office equipment to the Special Co-ordination Centre...

ZNAMENSKOYE, 15 June 2001 (OSCE)- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, visited Chechnya today on the occasion of the official inauguration of the OSCE Assistance Group office in Znamenskoye (northern Chechnya)

PRISTINA, 15 June 2001-- The OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the NGO Assembly of Kosovo are hosting tomorrow, 16 June, a consultative meeting to improve co-operation between non-governmental organizations (NGOs)...

WARSAW, 14 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Gérard Stoudmann, visited Chechnya on 13 and 14 June on a fact-finding mission to assess the human rights situation

BUCHAREST, 14 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana today announced the appointment of Dr. Wilhelm Höynck, career diplomat and former OSCE Secretary General, as his Personal Representative...

SARAJEVO, 13 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina today called upon members of Parliament from the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples to urgently pass the draft election law...

COPENHAGEN, 13 June 2001 (OSCE)-- OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President Bruce George, MP (United Kingdom) will lead the OSCE Observers for the Parliamentary Elections in Albania on Sunday 24 June 2001

ALMATY, 13 June 2001 (OSCE)-- On 11 June, the third \"Round Table on Elections\" took place in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, under OSCE auspices. The aim of the round table process is to discuss ways of improving election legislation

PRISTINA, 13 June 2001-- The Central Election Commission yesterday adopted two further rules with the aim of building a comprehensive framework for a transparent and credible election process...

BELGRADE, 12 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia condemns the assassination of Milan Pantic, a journalist of the daily \"Vecernje Novosti\", that occurred on 11 June 2001 in the city of Jagodina...

BELGRADE, 12 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The Head of the OSCE Mission to Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Ambassador Stefano Sannino, visited yesterday the South Banat District at the invitation of Mr. Jon Cizmas, President of the South Banat District...

ASHGABAT, 8 June 2001 (OSCE)-- OSCE Chairman-in- Office, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, raised a number of national and regional issues in meetings he had with Turkmen President, Saparmurat Niyazov...

COPENHAGEN, 8 June 2001 (OSCE)-The President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) will pay official visits to Canada and the United States from 11 to 14 June 2001...

PRISTINA, 8 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is continuing its work of assisting Kosovo\'s new civil servants through training in professional tools of administration. A three-day seminar, co-ordinated...

SARAJEVO, 8 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina concluded police-media training for the spokespersons and representatives of all police-related agencies from the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina...

VIENNA, 7 June 2001- A five-year report on Croatia\'s progress in meeting its international commitments received broad support in the OSCE Permanent Council today. The OSCE Chairmanship, the delegations of the European Union and the United States...

BELGRADE, 7 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The Head of the OSCE Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Ambassador Sannino, travelled today to southern Serbia on the occasion of the conclusion of the first phase of the mutli-ethnic police training...

VIENNA, 7 June 2001 (OSCE)- The Permanent Council has today decided to further increase the size of the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje

DUSHANBE, 7 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, today offered a partnership to Tajik authorities, inviting them to continue and strengthen OSCE values in the country. The OSCE offered...

TUZLA, 6 June 2001 (OSCE)-- Today, Freimut Duve, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, inaugurated the 'mobile.culture.container' project in Tuzla, in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina...

BISHKEK, 6 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, visited Kyrgyzstan today, as part of a tour of Central Asia, to find ways of reinforcing security and stability in the region...

SKOPJE, 6 June 2001 (OSCE)- Police officers and mayors from the western part of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are attending a two-day workshop on crisis management organized by the OSCE. Two officers from the police service...

ZAGREB, 5 June 2001 (OSCE)-- Bernard Poncet, Head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia, presented a five-year report on Croatia\'s progress in meeting its international commitments to the media today. During a press conference, he gave the following...

ALMATY, 5 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The three dimensions of security of the OSCE- the human dimension, the politico-military, and the economic and environmental dimension- must be developed in Kazakhstan, stressed OSCE Chairman-in-Office

ASTANA, 4 June 2001 (OSCE)-- A transboundary approach is needed together with a coordinated response at the national and international level to combat international terrorism, organized crime, illegal trafficking in drugs, weapons, and human beings...

TASHKENT, 2 June 2001 (OSCE)-- Judicial supervision over pre-trial investigation in Uzbekistan was the topic of a meeting held in Tashkent on 1 and 2 June. The conference agenda included a review of Uzbek national criminal procedure...

VIENNA, 1 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Permanent Council has decided to adopt a supplementary budget for the holding of Kosovo-wide elections on 17 November 2001. The supplementary budget for the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, approved on 31 May, amounts to...

BUCHAREST, 1 June 2001-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, has commended the recent positive developments in southern Serbia. He was referring to the agreement on the demilitarization...

VIENNA, 1 June 2001 (OSCE)-- The OSCE Permanent Council has recommended to the Ministerial Council to extend the mandate of Freimut Duve as OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media to 31 December 2003...

WARSAW, 31 May 2001 (OSCE)- Political support for domestic election observation groups is growing within the OSCE. This is one of the main results of a high-level OSCE meeting on elections which closes today...

PRISTINA, 31 May 2001 (OSCE)-- Daan Everts, Head of the Mission in Kosovo, will brief the Pristina media on Friday, 1 June, on his recent visit to the OSCE Permanent Council. On 31 May, Mr. Everts had updated the 55 OSCE participating States...