OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

The United States has urged Turkish authorities to "ensure political freedom," free speech and the independence of the judiciary, the U.S. State Department spokesperson said on April 11, responding to a question on the upcoming charter referendum in Turkey. 

BELGRADE - Eight observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights have registered to monitor the April 2 presidential elections in Serbia, the national election commission (RIK) told Tanjug on Wednesday.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) will deploy a limited election observation mission (LEOM) to monitor elections in Serbia.

Observers will most probably arrive around March 17, ODIHR Spokesperson Thomas Rymer has told Tanjug.

Media freedom, pluralism and media playing the field for candidates were areas which raised concerns ahead of Turkey's Nov. 1 elections, according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) election observation leaders, who spoke after their multi-city visit.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has called on Bulgaria to immediately stop evictions of Roma and address the problem of anti-Roma rhetoric.

The media statement of the OSCE was issued several days after the European Court of Human Rights demanded the suspension of the demolition of two illegal buildings in the village of Garmen.

The authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) will introduce a special regime of self-governance on its territory and plan holding local elections on October 18.

This was announced by DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko in a statement on Thursday, TASS news agency reports.

Fundamental freedoms were generally respected and voters could choose from a wide range of political parties in Turkey's June 7 elections, but the 10 percent threshold to enter parliament limits political pluralism, international observers said June 8.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) parliamentarians will observe the upcoming parliamentary election in Turkey and provide leadership for the OSCE?s short-term observer mission, the organization said in a written statement on May 19.

BELGRADE/AUSCHWITZ/VIENNA - On the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp, officials of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Tuesday highlighted the importance for societies to oppose the contemporary challenges of anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of intolerance.

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic will on Wednesday meet with the President and Foreign Minister of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter, who is OSCE chairman-in-office, and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on the fringes of a conference on antisemitism.