News and press releases

Effective border control is a key element in the fight against international organized crime, including human trafficking, which is why the OSCE Mission to Montenegro from 25 to 29 March organized two training sessions in Budva in Kolašin for border police officers from across the country on how to interview a victim of human trafficking.

In 2023, the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek (the Programme Office) collaborated with the Service on Countering Illicit Drug Trafficking (SCIDT) of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Internal Affairs to develop a new national draft law on illicit drug trafficking. This initiative aimed to address the limitations of the existing legal framework, which encountered difficulties in tackling the increasing complexities of national, regional, and global drug trafficking challenges.

Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented the final reports on Uzbekistan’s 2023 constitutional referendum and early presidential election during a visit to Tashkent that took place from 26 to 28 March 2024. “The interest shown in our

Strengthening the capacities of municipal youth administrators to organize local youth services and identify the needs and priorities of youth in their communities is a focus of a three-day training course organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Ministry of Sports and Youth, which began on 27 March in Budva.

The office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) and the Department of National Minorities under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania organized an expert roundtable on the Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Social and Economic Life

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov highlighted his open and constructive dialogue with the authorities in Latvia and representatives of national minorities, as well as civil society, during his first visit to the country from 18 to 21 March 2024.

In 2023, over 67 per cent of citizens had a positive view of the police, while 42.4 per cent noticed improvements in police work, an increase compared to 2022. Over 60 per cent of respondents believe that the police are the most efficient in the field of protection of citizens’ safety, followed by traffic safety (54.4 per cent) and border management and security (48.5 per cent). Overwhelmingly (81 percent) of respondents agree that women and men are equally capable of carrying out police duty, a result almost identical to 2022. These are some of the key findings..