News and press releases

An OSCE-supported seminar on the protection of freedom of expression and the judicial regulation of defamation took place on 24 September 2020 in Nur-Sultan. The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan co-organized the event with the Supreme Court, NGO Legal Media Centre, Internews Kazakhstan and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)...

COPENHAGEN, 23 September 2020 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (Georgia) and Secretary General Roberto Montella opened a web meeting today with Belarusian Head of Delegation Andrei Savinykh, Belarusian opposition presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and OSCE PA Bureau members by noting the importance of building dialogue for the benefit of all. Following weeks of increased polarization in Belarus characterized by street protests, violence and mass arrests, what is needed is to find common ground and pursue a way forward for the country, the PA leaders stressed...

Seventeen OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s so-called Moscow Mechanism on 17 September 2020. Seventeen OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism on 17 September 2020 to examine alleged human rights violations in Belarus. The Moscow Mechanism, last invoked in 2018 in

WARSAW, 15 September 2020 – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put democracies to their biggest test in decades, people are increasingly appreciating the vital importance of participating in societies where their voices and concerns are heard, said the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on today’s International Day of Democracy...

VIENNA/WARSAW, 11 September 2020 – OSCE participating States today unanimously decided that the OSCE’s annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) will exceptionally not take place in 2020, due to the unique, unprecedented and unpredictable circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The consensus decision, taken by the OSCE Permanent Council, does not establish any precedent for the organization of the HDIM in the future...

An OSCE-supported six-day online training seminar on electoral rights of persons with disabilities started on 24 August 2020. The event aims to help participants build their capacity to draw up an individual plan on running for elected office.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has approved new requirements for a Master’s degree programme in law, developed with the assistance of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine. The order issued by the Ministry, on 17 August 2020, (link) enacts the use of the Standard of Higher Education for speciality no. 081 “Law” at Master’s degree level, making it applicable starting from the 2020/2021 academic year...