News and press releases

As part of the third phase of the European Union-funded project “Stabilization of the Southern Border Region of Tajikistan with Afghanistan,” the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe handed over four video surveillance cameras to the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Panj district.

Around 50 representatives from municipalities, law enforcement, judiciary, social services and civil society from Kukës and Dragash/Dragaš gathered in Kukës to strengthen co-operation in addressing domestic and gender-based violence, on 16 July 2025.

The Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Zahid Movlazada, visited Mostar today to engage with local and international stakeholders and to underscore the Mission’s commitment to supporting constructive political dialogue, democratic governance, and security across the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.

On 15 July 2025, the OSCE held a side event in Vienna focused on strengthening asset recovery efforts to combat illicit financial flows across the region. The event, organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental

Several participating States have renewed and updated their national appointments to the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, following the expiry of previous mandates. Albania, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Poland have made new appointments and renewed mandates

WARSAW, 15 July 2025 – Intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities by the Russian Federation continue to result in a sharp increase in civilian casualties, while the systematic torture of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war persists and a growing number of Ukrainians are being prosecuted by Russian authorities on fabricated charges, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said today in a new report.

The OSCE organised a two-day inception workshop between 14 and 15 July in Chisinau, Moldova to officially launch the regional project “Advancing Transboundary Co-operation and Integrated Water Resources Management in the Dniester River Basin through Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme

The OSCE Mission to Serbia, in partnership with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, is launching recruitment for the 2025- 2026 Professional Practice Programme. Now in its sixth cycle, the Programme will enable young professionals from south and southwest Serbia to work

OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu has concluded his first official visit to Rome, where he participated in the Ukraine Recovery Conference and held a series of high-level bilateral meetings. These included discussions with Antonio Tajani, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, as well as Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See.

Protection of children in armed conflicts was the focus of the 95th joint OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) and OSCE Permanent Council (PC) meeting organized under the Estonian FSC Chairpersonship and the 2025 OSCE Chairpersonship of Finland on 9 July.

On 10 July, the OSCE hosted a youth-focused event at the Hofburg in Vienna titled ‘Pact for the future: a new order of international co-operation that delivers a better present and safeguards the future?’ The event showcased how youth-led research can contribute to ongoing policy discussions on

Bishkek, 10 July 2025 – The Programme Office in Bishkek (POiB), in close cooperation with the Ministry for Digital Development (MDD), has launched a one-day workshop aimed at strengthening digital leadership and cybersecurity capacity among deputy heads of state agencies. The event, held in

HELSINKI/VIENNA, 11 July 2025 — Today we mark 30 years since the July 1995 genocide in Srebrenica, when more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were brutally killed and buried in mass graves. We honour the memory of the victims and extend our sincere condolences to their families. We continue to stand in solidarity with the survivors.

Economic connectivity for promoting peace and security across the OSCE and the Asian regions was in focus at the OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation Group Meeting on 7 July in Vienna.

8 July 2025, Ashgabat – Officials from the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan held a two-day online consultation with experts from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Countering Terrorist Travel (‘CT Travel’) Programme, and OSCE participating States to discuss the legal aspects and financial considerations for establishing of an Advance Passenger Information (API) system in Turkmenistan on 7-8 July. The event followed an introductory meeting held on 10 April, which aimed to identify the country’s needs for practical expertise and technical assistance required for implementing and launching the API system.

WARSAW, 7 July 2025 — Legislation increasingly restricting the work of civil society and the detention and prosecution of peaceful protestors in Georgia as well as the recent arrests of political opposition leaders are of growing concern, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said today.

From 24 to 26 June 2025, the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre facilitated a study visit to the Swedish National Police Force in Stockholm for Ukrainian specialists working on small arms and light weapons (SALW) control.

As peer violence and early criminal behavior among young people become growing concerns, the OSCE held an intensive two-day regional training in Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 2 and 3 July. The event brought together key frontline professionals from across South-Eastern Europe to strengthen

An OSCE-organized training course on Combatting Illicit Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), Conventional Ammunition (CA) and Explosives took place from 1 to 4 July 2025 in Ashgabat. The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, in close co-operation with the Conflict Prevention Centre/Forum for

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mission) welcomes the adoption of the Strategy for Integrated Border Management 2025–2029 and its accompanying Action Plan at yesterday’s BiH Council of Ministers session.

PARIS, 3 July 2025 — OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu concluded his official visit to Paris where he met with Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, and other high-level officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Elysée Palace.

On 19 June in Almaty, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, in collaboration with the global ride-hailing company inDrive, launched a pilot training session for 48 local drivers, including 11 women and 37 men. This first of its kind gender-sensitive communication training event was delivered in partnership with a ride-hailing platform, which marks a meaningful step toward engaging local drivers in fostering safer and more respectful public spaces and promoting a zero tolerance approach to discrimination and harassment.

KYIV, 3 JULY 2025 – A delegation of Ambassadors from OSCE participating States concluded a visit to Kyiv yesterday, reaffirming their steadfast support for Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing war of aggression. Co-hosted by the Finnish OSCE Chairpersonship and the Special Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office-OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine, Ambassador Petr Mareš, this was the first visit of its kind since 2018.

As part of an ongoing campaign to promote careers in law enforcement, from 26 June to 2 July 2025, the OSCE Mission supported the Kosovo Police in organizing a series of outreach meetings across five regions in Kosovo. The initiative targeted young women and men, mainly from non-majority

Batken, Kyrgyz Republic | 23 June 2025 – The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek (POiB) reaffirmed its long-standing partnership with the Border Service of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of the Kyrgyz Republic by participating in a high-level event at the newly constructed premises

On 24 June, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro partnered with the Union of Young Entrepreneurs of Montenegro to host a local networking event that connected aspiring young entrepreneurs with municipality representatives from Podgorica.

Frontline officers from Georgia, Germany and Ukraine deepened their expertise in combating cross-border trafficking in cultural property at the ninth in a series of training workshops organized in Vienna by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in co-operation with the Austrian Ministry of Finance — Customs Service from 23 to 26 June.

The OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department convened the fifth annual meeting of national points of contact (PoC), in line with cyber/ICT security confidence-building measure (CBM) no. 8 on 23 June in Vienna, bringing together 69 policy and technical experts from 41 participating States. This

The OSCE and the Greek labour inspectorate joined forces to host a conference focused on human rights due diligence for more than 120 public officials, business and civil society representatives on 25 June 2025, in Athens. The event, hosted by the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and

Building on insights from the first workshop held in May, the OSCE organized a follow-up event on the taxation of virtual assets on 26 and 27 June in Chisinau, Moldova. The workshop brought together eighteen representatives from Moldova’s State Tax Service and the Ministry of Finance to enhance

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, held a workshop in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on 26 and 27 June to support the country’s law enforcement and criminal justice institutions in developing a national competency framework and training strategy on

Senior managers and crime analysts from the Moldovan General Police Inspectorate took part in OSCE training courses from 23 to 27 June in Chisinau to equip them with the tools to implement intelligence-led policing, a proactive and intelligence-driven approach to identifying, assessing, and addressing crime threats.

On 16 and 17 June in Astana as well as on 19 and 20 June 2025 in Almaty, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, in partnership with the Public Foundation “Legal Media Center” and Internews in Kazakhstan, organized two-day training workshops on “Legal Check-Up for Journalists.”

The 62nd round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) took place on 5-6 November 2024 in the Palais des Nations, in accordance with the six-point agreement of 12 August 2008 and the implementing measures of 8 September 2008.

More than 400 police cadets in Albania strengthened their skills in gender-responsive policing during a series of one-day introductory training courses organized by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, the OSCE Presence in Albania, and the Albanian Security Academy from 23 to 26 June 2025 in Tirana.

How to stay ahead of the rapid evolution of virtual assets, such as cryptocurrencies, and ensure their effective regulation was in sharp focus at the OSCE Summit on Virtual Assets held in Warsaw from 24 to 25 June.

Vienna, 25 June 2025 – The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is holding a two-day Annual Security Review Conference (ASRC) in Vienna on 25 and 26 June 2025.

VIENNA, 25 June 2025 – Today OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu addressed the opening plenary session of the high-level Annual Security Review Conference (ASRC), a two-day conference, convened by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna.

Following the publication of the Volume I of the Guide on Constitutional Court Case Law in February 2024, focusing on individual constitutional complaints for the period 1998–2023, the Constitutional Court of Albania, in co‑operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania, released on 24 June 2025 the

From 23 to 25 June 2025, 25 regional representatives from Uzbekistan’s Ombudsman institution and civil society organizations participated in a training course conducted by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) to learn how to write alternative reports to UN treaty bodies. During the

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo handed over five specialized vehicles to the Kosovo Police K9 unit on 24 June 2025 to enhance the operational capabilities of police canine teams.

To explore how police can harness new and emerging technologies to strengthen community outreach and public engagement, the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department brought together law enforcement and civil society representatives on 18 and 19 June for an expert roundtable discussion in Vienna.

Moldovan law enforcement authorities took steps to enhance their capability to assess security threats facing the country at a workshop organized by the OSCE and Moldova’s General Police Inspectorate on 19 and 20 June in Chisinau.

The programme aims to strengthen Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) human and technical capacities in cybersecurity by empowering, connecting, and strengthening the expertise of women working in the field. It also supports the implementation of OSCE commitments on gender equality and the Women, Peace and Security agenda, including UN Security Council Resolution 1325, by promoting greater gender diversity across both the public and private sectors.

On 24 June, the OSCE Presence in Albania, in partnership with the University of Gjirokastra, presented the findings of a feasibility assessment for a Research Centre for Local Development. The event convened academic staff, government representatives, civil society, students, and local stakeholders

Germany’s parliamentary elections in February were competitive and professionally managed, despite logistical challenges due to tight deadlines. While fundamental freedoms were respected overall, the vibrant campaign was targeted by disinformation and foreign interference and marked by polarization.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan (MIA), in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe (POiD), are successfully implementing the "Youth Against Drug Addiction, Vagrancy and Hooliganism" public awareness campaign across Tajikistan.

Financial intelligence and law enforcement professionals from Armenia completed an intensive training on investigating the misuse of virtual assets at a three-day, expert-level workshop organized by the OSCE, in co-operation with the Financial Monitoring Center (FMC) of Armenia, from 18 to 20 June in Yerevan.

More than 50 representatives from Turkmenistan’s environmental, health, and sectoral planning authorities strengthened their skills in strategic environmental assessment (SEA) at a two-day seminar organized by the OSCE from 18 to 19 June in Ashgabat.

On 23 June 2025, in an important milestone for Albania’s legislative process, the Assembly of Albania launched the e-Legislation Portal, created through a project of the OSCE Presence in Albania with funding from the Swiss government. The Portal, developed in line with the international Akoma Ntoso