News and press releases

HELSINKI/VIENNA, 7 March 2025 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen and OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu issued the following statement regarding several laws and measures adopted by the Republika Srpska National Assembly on 27 February and entered into force on 6 March that challenge the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Joint statement on the occasion of the International Women’s Day by Ingrid Macdonald, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luigi Soreca, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina and EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brian Aggeler, Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 2024 local elections were competitive and efficiently managed, but took place in an environment lacking social and political cohesion. Extensive legal reforms increased the integrity of the process, but the scope of the changes, combined with time pressure and inadequate resources, made its implementation challenging.

Azerbaijan’s 2024 early presidential and early parliamentary elections took place in a restrictive environment marred by the absence of genuine political alternatives and a lack of political will to bring the country’s elections closer in line with international standards and OSCE commitments.

The newly adopted FBiH Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women (Law) introduces measures to improve institutional responses to domestic violence and violence against women and provide protection to victims.

WARSAW, 28 February 2025 – The Law on the Special Registry and Publicity of the Work of Non-Profit Organizations adopted last night by the parliament of Republika Srpska does not meet international human rights standards or the commitments of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an OSCE participating State, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Maria Telalian and OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Jan Braathu said today.

SARAJEVO, 27 February 2025- The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mission) reaffirms its full support for the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A peaceful and prosperous future for everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina requires respect for the rule of law and