News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Participants at OSCE meeting call for more decisive steps to confront anti-Semitism in public discourse
Publishing date: 23 March 2011
PRAGUE, 23 March 2011 – Participants at an OSCE meeting in Prague on confronting anti-Semitism in public discourse today called for more decisive steps to counter expressions of intolerance and hatred while preserving the freedom of speech...
OSCE/ODIHR, Council of Europe and EU Fundamental Rights Agency make joint statement on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Publishing date: 18 March 2011
STRASBOURG, VIENNA, WARSAW, 21 March 2011 – In a joint statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Nils Muiznieks, Chair of the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance; Morten Kjaerum, Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights; and Janez Lenarčič, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, strongly condemned manifestations of racism and related intolerance...
OSCE Minorities Commissioner Vollebaek supports strategy for integrated education during visit to Skopje
Publishing date: 18 March 2011
The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), Knut Vollebaek, visited Skopje on 16-18 March 2011 to assess progress in integrating education as outlined in a government strategy. He also discussed the current political context and its impact on inter-ethnic relations.
OSCE, U.S. and EU urge Albanian authorities to investigate removal of Roma families, provide social assistance to displaced
Publishing date: 16 March 2011
TIRANA, 16 March 2011 – Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, the Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Alexander Arvizu, the U.S. Ambassador to Albania, Ambassador Ettore Sequi, the Head of the EU Delegation to Albania, made the following statement today concerning recent incidents involving Roma families...
U.S. Special Representatives on Anti-Semitism, Muslim communities address OSCE Permanent Council, call for combatting intolerance
Publishing date: 17 February 2011
VIENNA, 17 February 2011 – The U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal, and the U.S. Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith, addressing the OSCE Permanent Council today, said that more needs to be done by OSCE and other stakeholders in respecting fundamental freedoms and combatting all forms of intolerance...
Bulgarian police to receive ODIHR-sponsored training on tackling hate crime
Publishing date: 15 February 2011
Bulgaria became the latest OSCE participating State to sign on to ODIHR’s Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme, finalizing an agreement at a ceremony in Sofia on 15 February...
OSCE Chairperson meets Russian human rights officials, civil society and think tanks, stresses need to improve implementation of human dimension commitments
Publishing date: 3 February 2011
MOSCOW, 3 February 2011 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, stressed the need to improve the implementation of human rights commitments during meetings today in Moscow with the Chairperson of the Human Rights Council of the Russian Federation, as well as with representatives of think tanks and civil society...