News and press releases

STRASBOURG/WARSAW, 22 March 2021 – Kyrgyzstan’s draft constitution would result in a complete change of the country’s constitutional order if adopted and raises grave concerns over the lack of respect for the principles of the rule of law, separation of powers, and inherent lack of checks and balances, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe said in a joint legal opinion.

A roundtable event to discuss and co-ordinate activities on the effective implementation of the National Strategy on Penal Reform for 2020-2030 took place on 4 March 2021 in Dushanbe.

The OSCE Presence in Albania organized an online workshop, on 22 February 2021, to discuss lustration policies and processes in Albania since the collapse of the dictatorship 30 years ago. The event called “Lustration in Albania: The past and the future” – part of the Presence’s work in the field of the transitional justice – brought together national and international institutions, experts and practitioners, as well as lecturers and students from the public University of Tirana and private universities...

SARAJEVO, 12 February 2021 – The U.S. Embassy, EU Delegation/EU Special Representative in BiH and the OSCE Mission to BiH call on all relevant authorities to ensure the draft Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in BiH is aligned with international standards, resulting in a robust system for preventing conflict of interest among public officials...

SARAJEVO, 10 February 2021 – Kathleen Kavalec, Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, congratulated Halil Lagumdžija, newly elected President of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC) and Sanela Gorušanović-Butigan and Biljana Simeunović, as Vice Presidents...

SARAJEVO, 9 February 2021- On February 5, the newly appointed City Council of Mostar adopted a decision to conduct the election of the mayor of Mostar by public ballot...

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan co-hosted two events, on 2 and 5 February 2021, to discuss the December 2020 address of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, on the effectiveness and the results of the 2017-2021 National Action Strategy, as well as the next steps in terms of State development and reforms in the sphere of democratization. The event was co-organized by the Development Strategy Centre, the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan (the Parliament), the National Human Rights Centre, the UNDP's Rule of Law Partnership in Uzbekistan project, the Supreme Court, the United States Agency for International Development, the Chamber of Advocates, the United Nations Country Team in Uzbekistan and the World Bank.