The OSCE Mission to Skopje is the Organization's longest-serving field mission. In 2001, during a seven-month conflict in the country, the strength of the Mission grew steadily in response to an increased need. Following the internationally-brokered Ohrid Framework Agreement of August that year, which sealed the end of the fighting by ensuring the rights of all in the country, the OSCE took on an enhanced mandate which eventually more than quadrupled the size of the Mission.

Monitoring and supporting implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement remains a key priority. The Mission works in close co-operation with the other security principals in the country: the European Union Delegation, the United States Embassy and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Skopje, and with local counterparts on long-term reform processes in areas such as the judiciary, police professionalisation and public administration. The Mission actively encourages the further strengthening and streamlining of the essential pillars of the Ohrid Framework Agreement: education, decentralization, equitable representation, language, and non-discrimination.

The Mission's authorized staffing level is 178. Currently 57 internationals from 23 countries work side by side with 121 national staff members.

Further information on mandates, staffing levels and budgets can be found in the annual Survey of OSCE Field Operations.