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High Commissioner on National Minorities

About

The post of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities was established in 1992 to identify and seek early resolution of ethnic tensions that might endanger peace, stability or friendly relations between OSCE participating States.

Press releases

OSCE national minorities Commissioner, Latvian Naturalization Board to hold conference on citizenship

A newly naturalized citizen receives her passport in Jurmala, Latvia. (Latvian Naturalization Board)

THE HAGUE, 19 November 2008 - A conference organized by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Naturalization Board of the Republic of Latvia on the institution of citizenship and its development and perspectives in the Baltic...

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Features

OSCE Minorities Commissioner seeks stable solution to plight of Meskhetians

Mamuka Khutsishvili (l) and Osman Mehriev-Kuradze are ethnic Meshketians who have returned to the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, Georgia, 9 July 2008. The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities is working to facilitate the return of the Meshketians. (OSCE/Pavlo Byalyk)

Abkhazia and South Ossetia continue to be at the centre of international attention. Another issue in Georgia, which the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities is focusing on, is the return of Meskhetians deported by Stalin to their homeland.

OSCE High Commissioner helps build young friendships through multicultural education in Kyrgyzstan

Girls in national costumes have fun at the award ceremony for 'The Colours of Friendship' drawing competition held by the HCNM-supported Centre for Multilingual and Multicultural Education, Osh, Kyrgyzstan, 1 June 2008. (OSCE/Dildora Khamidova)

The HCNM is helping to bring children and teachers from the country's various ethnic groups together to deepen their appreciation of each other's languages and cultures.

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OSCE High Commissioner Knut Vollebaek (l), Netherlands Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen (c) and Netherlands Permanent Representative to the OSCE Ida van Veldhuizen (r), at a reception to mark the HCNM's 15th anniversary, The Hague, 11 November 2008. (OSCE/Eric Gourlan)

OSCE High Commissioner Knut Vollebaek (l), Netherlands Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen (c) and Netherlands Permanent Representative to the OSCE Ida van Veldhuizen (r), at a reception to mark the HCNM's 15th anniversary, The Hague, 11 November 2008. (OSCE/Eric Gourlan)

DOCUMENT: Keynote speech by OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, on "The Rise of Populism and its Implications for National Minorities"

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Documents

Letter by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office

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Letter by High Commissioner Knut Vollebaek to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, supporting the findings of the OSCE/ODIHR's report human rights situation in the war-affected areas following the conflict in Georgia

Statement by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to the Permanent Council

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Statement by Knut Vollebaek, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, to the 742nd Plenary Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, 27 November 2008.