News and press releases

SKOPJE, 1 November 2021 – The second round of North Macedonia’s local elections was competitive and the election administration took efforts to address some procedural shortcomings from the first round. However, negative rhetoric and allegations of pressure on voters and candidates continued to affect the elections, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a statement today.

The OSCE, together with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), supported the third Annual General Meeting of the Balkan Asset Management Interagency Network (BAMIN) held from 27 to 29 October 2021 in Tirana, Albania.

A two-day training on International Standards and Best Practices on the Adjudication of Corruption Offences organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania concluded on 29 October 2021.

Ahead of the municipal elections in Cetinje and Petnjica on 5 December 2021, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, the Association of Youth with Disabilities and the Union of Blind of Montenegro delivered an online training course on 28 October for representatives of the local Municipal Electoral Commissions (MECs) on how to improve accessibilty of polling stations and voting materials.

From 25 to 27 October 2021, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized an online training course on gender aspects in investigative journalism.

A five-day OSCE online training course on the Dark Web and virtual currencies for criminal justice practitioners from the five Central Asian OSCE participating States concluded on 29 October 2021.

In close co-operation with the National Coordinator for Countering Violent Extremism, from 26 to 28 October 2021, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized a series of workshops on prevention of violent extremism and radicalization leading to terrorism for first responders...