News and press releases

VIENNA, 21 November 2023 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, has concluded her visit to Uzbekistan which took place from 15 to 17 November. The visit included a series of high-level meetings with Uzbekistan’s officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister, Gairat Fazilov, Assistant to the President, Saida Mirziyoyeva, Chair of the Committee of the Legislative Chamber for Innovations, Information Policy and Information Technologies, Ilhom Abdullayev, and the Director of the Agency for Information and Mass Communications, Asadjon Khodjaev.

Following the successful completion of the anti-corruption masterclasses series, organized in co-operation with four national universities (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Goce Delcev University- Shtip, University St. Kliment Ohridski Bitola and South East European University), the expressed enthusiasm by the students and in order to further encourage active anti-corruption engagement, OSCE Mission to Skopje is organizing an essay writing competition for students.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Kairat Abdrakhmanov and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) Tatiana Valovaya organized a roundtable on Promoting Conflict Prevention through the Socio-Economic Inclusion of Minorities on 15 November 2023 at the Palais

ASTANA, 15 November 2023 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, concluded a two-day official visit to Kazakhstan. During the visit, she engaged in a series of productive meetings with various stakeholders, including Minister of Culture and Information Aida Balayeva, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roman Vassilenko, and Assistant to the President on internal policies and communication Ruslan Zheldybay. She also met with members of Parliament, including the Chair of the Committee for Social and Cultural Development of the Mazhilis, Ashkat Aimagambetov, the Chair of the Working Group on Drafting the Law on Mass Media, Zhanarbek Ashimzhanov, and with MP Nikita Shatalov.

SKOPJE, 14 November 2023 – The OSCE expert network, which will serve as a point of consultation and dialogue on the three dimensions of the OSCE, was launched in Skopje by the OSCE 2023 Chairpersonship of North Macedonia and the OSCE Secretariat.

Sarajevo, 10 November 2023- With less than 11 months until the 2024 Local Elections scheduled for next October, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Brian Aggeler, notes that authorities in BiH have so far failed to bring the BiH Election Law in line with international standards and best practices for democratic elections. The necessary amendments have been clearly and repeatedly enumerated and recommended, also after the last general elections held in October 2022, by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), including in its Election Observation Mission Final Report issued in February 2023, and by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission).

ERGNETI, 1 November 2023 – The 115th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti today under the co-facilitation of the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), Dimitrios Karabalis, and the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, Viorel Moşanu.