Europe

Security Council extends mandate of European peacekeepers in Bosnia

18 November 2009
The United Nations Security Council today extended for another year the European Union stabilization force (EUFOR) entrusted with ensuring continued compliance by all sides in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the ethnic war there.
Walter Kaelin, the Secretary-General’s Representative for the Human Rights of IDPs

Over 117,000 displaced Bosnians kept from returning home by political disputes – UN

17 November 2009
Political disputes in Bosnia and Herzegovina are impeding the return of over 117,000 people, dooming them to endure the consequences of wartime atrocities 14 years after the end of the Balkan conflict that drove them from their homes, an independent United Nations expert said today.
Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias (right) and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat

Property issues remain focus of UN-backed talks between Cypriot leaders

17 November 2009
Property issues were once again the focus as Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders met today to continue United Nations-backed reunification talks.
Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias (right) and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat

Cyprus leaders centre ongoing UN-backed talks on property issues

13 November 2009
Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders met today to discuss property rights issues during the latest round of United Nations-backed talks aimed at reunifying the Mediterranean island.
A woman poses with her small children in Kaliab Valley, Tajikistan

Maternal mortality in Eastern Europe, Central Asia halved but still high – UN report

12 November 2009
The number of women in Eastern Europe and Central Asia dying from complications in childbirth and pregnancy has been slashed by more than half over the last 10 years, participants at a high-level United Nations gathering in Istanbul heard today.
Dragomir Milošević

UN war crimes tribunal reduces sentence of convicted former Bosnian Serb general

12 November 2009
The Appeals Chamber of the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst crimes committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s today cut four years off the 33-year sentence imposed on a former Bosnian Serb army general who commanded much of the siege of Sarajevo.

Talks on Russian-Georgian conflict resume in Geneva under UN co-sponsorship

11 November 2009
The United Nations and its international partners chairing talks on last year’s Russian-Georgian conflict in South Ossetia today voiced concern over a number of recent detentions but noted that the overall security situation on the ground remained “relatively stable.”
Blankets, kitchen sets, jerry cans being distributed to the displaced from South Ossetia [File Photo]

Independent UN expert urges greater efforts to help South Ossetia’s displaced

10 November 2009
An independent United Nations human rights expert who just completed a visit to South Ossetia has called for “more pragmatism and less politics” to improve the situation of those displaced during last year’s armed conflict that pitted Georgia against separatists and their Russian allies.
Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace

UN official lauds role of sport in European Union development programmes

10 November 2009
A senior United Nations official today praised the European Commission for its use of sport in bringing together diverse communities within the continent’s geo-political bloc, as well as helping people in poor countries.
The Berlin Wall

UN officials remember fall of Berlin Wall, 20 years on

9 November 2009
The fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago today is a reminder of the difference that ordinary people can make for the greater good, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging the world to salute those fighting to enhance human rights and freedoms.