Frequently asked questions

How do I contact the OSCE?

Press enquiries related to all aspects of the OSCE’s work can be sent to [email protected]. Enquiries sent to this e-mail address will be directed to the press officers at the Communication and Media Relations Section at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna.

Media contact numbers and e-mail addresses for the OSCE Field Operations and OSCE Institutions and other bodies can be found here.

Media are also welcome to send enquiries to press contacts at the delegations of OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation.

Can I contact press officers in official OSCE languages other than English?

Apart from English, the press officers can be contacted in Russian, French and German. Queries in Italian and Spanish can also be answered by the press office, but may sometimes only be answered in writing.

Can I get OSCE press releases and media advisories e-mailed to me automatically?

Yes, go to our e-mail subscription page where you can register as a media professional. Follow the steps as shown on the screen and create your account. You can customize your subscription options.

Where can I follow the OSCE on social media?

The official OSCE Social Media Accounts can be found here .

Can I attend OSCE events?

The OSCE will issue a media advisory on its press releases and media advisories pages a few days ahead of an event inviting journalists to attend. The media advisory will contain a synopsis of the event, a list of key speakers, details of the time and venue of the event as well as any information related to accreditation procedures. To receive press releases and media advisories in your e-mail inbox, go to the e-mail subscription page where you can register as a media professional.  

For events in Vienna, the OSCE Secretariat no longer issues OSCE press badges.

Journalists holding recognized and valid press IDs will be granted access to most media events in the Hofburg Congress Centre. Some media events require advance registration. This will be specified in the media advisories ahead of such events.

Journalists who do not hold a valid press ID are requested to contact the OSCE Communication and Media Relations Section ahead of the event they wish to cover.

For additional information, please contact the OSCE Communication and Media Relations Section at +43 1 51436 6180, + 43 676 71 74 592 (for urgent and out of office hours requests) or [email protected]

Is it possible to attend meetings of the Permanent Council or Forum for Security Co-operation?

Meetings of the Permanent Council and Forum for Security Co-operation, which are held in the Neuer Saal at the Hofburg Congress Centre in Vienna, are not normally open to the press. However, when there is a guest speaker, journalists may be invited to hear the speech. In such cases, a media advisory will be published on our press releases and media advisories pages a few days in advance and will also be e-mailed to media subscribers.

Can I interview guest speakers?

If you are accredited you will also be invited to any press opportunity. If you wish, you can wait in the coffee bar and "doorstep" the guest. The OSCE's Communication and Media Relations staff might also be able to help you set up an interview.

Is there a list of upcoming OSCE events on this site?

Yes, check out the events calendar for details of upcoming events.

Is it possible to follow OSCE events live?

The OSCE often provides live streaming on the internet of selected high profile meetings and press conferences. We advertise live web streams in our media advisories published a few days before the event on our press releases and media advisories pages and e-mailed to media subscribers. Unless specified otherwise, live web streams can be viewed on osce.org/live.

We also tweet live from selected meetings and press conferences. Follow us @osce, or @osce_ru for our Russian-language tweets, to stay up-to-date.

Which countries are members of the OSCE?

The OSCE has 57 participating States, which are:
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of North Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uzbekistan.

The OSCE also maintains close relations with two groups of countries which are not participating States, the Mediterranean and the Asian Partners for Co-operation.

I want to write about a particular country, can you help me?

The OSCE has field operations in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. You can contact the OSCE field operations directly.

If you are writing about elections observed by the OSCE in any country, your first port of call should be the press office of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE's primary election observation body, which is based in Warsaw.

You can also contact Communication and Media Relations Section of OSCE in Vienna and we'll point you in the right direction.

Does the OSCE have photos I can use?

The website's resources section contains more than 10,000 pictures, many of which have high-resolution versions that you can download free of charge.

For photographs on the website that are credited to the OSCE, you may reproduce and/or distribute them without charge under the terms and conditions of a Creative Commons Attribution - No Derivative Works license. Please credit both the OSCE and the photographer in the following manner: OSCE/photographer's name.

For photographs on the website that are not credited to the OSCE, you must seek permission to reproduce them from the original photographer or agency, as shown in the photograph credits.

Where can I find background information on the OSCE?

The best place to start is probably with our range of factsheets on the OSCE and its various institutions, field operations and other bodies.

You can also contact Communication and Media Relations Section at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna. We can answer most OSCE-related questions, and if we can't, we can usually put you in touch with someone who can.