News and press releases

VIENNA, 1 July 1999-- The Permanent Council also decided today to place the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe under the auspices of the OSCE....

VIENNA, 1 July 1999-- The Permanent Council of the OSCE today decided on the mandate for the...

OSLO, 25 June 1999-- Tomorrow, 26 June, is United Nations Day in Support of Victims of Torture. On this occasion, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Norwegian...

OSLO, 24 June 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Foreign Minister Knut Vollebæk of Norway, has today designated Ambassador Daan Everts as Head...

OSLO, 24 June 1999-- The OSCE Ministerial Troika, Foreign Ministers Knut Vollebæk of Norway, Bronislaw Geremek of Poland and Ambassador Jutta Stefan-Bastl representing the...

VIENNA, 14 June 1999- The following statement was released today by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve. "Today with great sadness I learned of the deaths of three journalists in Kosovo..."

COPENHAGEN, 14 June 1999-- The initiation of a process of dialogue on democratic elections between personalities from various Belarusian organizations took place from 11-13 June...

COPENHAGEN, 14 June 1999-- The Eighth Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) will meet in the Taurida Palace in St.-Petersburg from 6 to 10 July 1999....

OSLO, 11 June 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, condemns the murders yesterday of OSCE local staff member, Mr. Hazir Kuca, and an Albanian communications official travelling with him....

VIENNA, 9 June 1999-- In a special session yesterday evening, the OSCE Permanent Council decided to establish a Transitional Task Force for Kosovo to focus on preparation for a new Mission in Kosovo....

VIENNA, 4 June 1999-- Ambassador Ján Kubis of Slovakia has been appointed as the new Secretary General of the OSCE. Ambassador Kubis will succeed Ambassador Giancarlo...

ZAGREB, 3 June 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebæk, expresses his satisfaction that the Yugoslav authorities...

VIENNA, 1 June 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, will visit Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Zagreb on 2-4 June....

COPENHAGEN, 28 May 1999-- On 2-4 June 1999, Mrs. Helle Degn, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, will visit Albania to get acquainted with the present situation in the...

COPENHAGEN, 27 May 1999-- From 31 May to 2 June 1999, Mrs. Helle Degn, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, will visit the Former Yugoslav...

COPENHAGEN, 26 May 1999-- Ms. Tone Tingsgaard MP will arrive in Yerevan on the 28 May to lead the OSCE observers for the Parliamentary Elections in Armenia on Sunday 30 May....

ZAGREB, 21 May 1999-- A delegation of senior diplomats today met with Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa. The main topic of discussion was the OSCE Mission's latest progress report. While the prime minister disputed the negative conclusions...

OSLO, 20 May 1999-- The Norwegian Chairmanship of the OSCE will convene a meeting tomorrow, 21 May, in Oslo at senior official level to discuss measures for promoting...

VIENNA, 19 May 1999-- The Seventh Economic Forum of the OSCE will take place in Prague from 25 to 28 May. The Forum will consist of two separate but linked events: a meeting on...

ZAGREB, 12 May 1999- Recent articles published in two Croatian national newspapers stated that OSCE officials have expressed support for the latest protests in the village of Berak, in the Danube...

THE HAGUE, 12 May 1999-- The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Max van der Stoel, reported to the Permanent Council today on his visit to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on May 9-11....

OSLO, 10 May 1999- As Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, I wish to pay tribute on behalf of the OSCE to the Council of Europe...

VIENNA, 28 April 1999- The OSCE Ministerial Troika expresses the readiness of the OSCE to serve as a coordinating framework and to take on substantial responsibility for the implementation of a political settlement in Kosovo...

OSLO, 28 April 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Foreign Minister of Norway Knut Vollebaek, has designated Ms. Tone Tingsgaard as his Special Representative to lead the OSCE Short-Term Observation Mission to the Parliamentary Elections in Armeni

COPENHAGEN, 23 April 1999- The Leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, meeting today in Copenhagen, has awarded the 1999 OSCE Prize for Journalism and Democracy to the international reporter, Christiane Amanpour.

COPENHAGEN, 23 April 1999-- The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe expressed strong support for the recent statement made by the Secretary General of the United Nations on the crisis in Kos

SKOPJE, 20 April 1999-- OSCE KVM Human Rights staff previously working in Kosovo are conducting in-depth interviews with victims and witnesses regarding alleged human rights violations, covering the period 20 March 1999 onwards....

PRISTINA, 9 April 1999-- The pace of registering ethnic Albanian refugees in the Stenkovac camps to make them ready for airlifts to sanctuary countries is rapidly increasing, and is expected soon to reach 2000 persons a day....

SKOPJE, 6 April 1999-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office Knut Vollebaek offered the resources of the 250 strong OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission in Ohrid, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to support the UNHCR relief efforts in a statement on 1 April....

SKOPJE, 4 April 1999-- The OSCE Kosovo Mission, presently located in the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (fYROM), is making a concerted effort to produce the most extensive picture possible of the human rights situation within Kosovo during the

VIENNA, 1 April 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebæk, is deeply concerned about the 30 March 1999 arrest of Mr. Mikhail Chegir, a former Prime Minister of Belarus and one of the candidates for the presidenti

VIENNA, 1 April 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebæk, has decided to use personnel and equipment from the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) to alleviate the situation for refugees who have fled from Kos

OSLO, 1 April 1999-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Knut Vollebæk, expresses his profound outrage that Yugoslavian and Serbian forces have in recent days blatantly perpetrated, and continue to perpetrate, crimes agains

COPENHAGEN, 31 March 1999-- Mrs. Helle Degn, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, today...

OSLO, 24 March 1999-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, strongly urges Yugoslav...

PRISTINA, 19 March 1999-- Following the announcement by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Norway's Foreign Minister Knut Vollabaek, that the international staff of the OSCE...

OSLO, 19 March 1999-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, today made the decision to withdraw the OSCE mission (the Kosovo...

OSLO, 17 March 1999-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek of Norway, notes the publication of the...

PRISTINA, 16 March 1999-- The OSCE KVM voices its strong condemnation over the repressive measures taken by the Serbian Government against three Albanian language newspapers published in Pristina....

OSLO, 13 March 1999-- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister Knut Vollebæk of Norway, strongly condemns the terrorist acts in Kosovo on 13 March. At...

PRISTINA, 13 March 1999-- On 13 March, at 1306 and 1320 hours, two explosions occurred in Podujevo, one near the police station and the other at the market. This was followed at 1418 hours,...

OSLO, 12 March 1999-- Last week the OSCE Chairman-in-Office urgently appealed to the Government of Belarus to release from detention Mr. Victor Gonchar, chairman of the opposition Election Committee....

OSLO, 3 March 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Knut Vollebaek, met today in Oslo with the Co-Chairs of the...

OSLO, 3 March 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, is deeply concerned regarding the recent arrests of the head and members of...

PRISTINA, 1 March 1999-- On 1 March at 13,00 hours, the KLA handed over two missing Serb brothers to the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission.

PRISTINA, 1 March 1999-- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Norway\'s Foreign Minister, Mr. Knut Vollebaek, will visit Pristina on Tuesday March 2....

ZAGREB, 24 February 1999-- Some of the media have recently publicised misleading and alarmist views about the concept of 'community policing', in connection with the OSCE Mission. We wish to assure...

COPENHAGEN, 24 February 1999- Mrs. Helle Degn, M. P., President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), appeals to the Turkish authorities to guarantee a fair trial for the arrested leader of the P

RAMBOUILLET, 23 February 1999- The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek, welcomes the outcome of the Rambouillet negotiations....

PRISTINA, 23 February 1999-- The OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission has strongly protested the Yugoslav authorities recent acts of hostility and aggression suffered by verifiers at the hands of the VJ and MUP forces.