News and press releases

Titled "Parliaments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Citizens: The Path to Successful Partnership – Civic Initiative in Parliaments in Bosnia and Herzegovina," the conference brought together over 60 participants, including representatives from BiH parliaments, international organizations, NGOs, the academic community, and guests from the region.

VALLETTA, 4 December 2024 — The 2024 OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference, held today in Malta, underscored the important role of civil society in promoting peace, security and democratic resilience across the OSCE region. Civil society representatives from across the region discussed ongoing challenges and presented actionable recommendations to OSCE leaders and participating States ahead of the 31st OSCE Ministerial Council from 5 to 6 December.

WARSAW, 30 November 2024 – The action of law enforcement officials while policing peaceful protests in Georgia is of deep concern and a serious breach of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said today after police used

The 2024 European Parliament elections were genuinely competitive, with fundamental freedoms respected. The elections were run professionally and effectively, and the bodies administering them enjoyed a high level of confidence. Aspects of electoral legislation needing further review related primarily to insufficient efforts to involve under-represented groups to form a fully inclusive parliament, differences in voting and candidacy rights across Member States that created unequal conditions for universal suffrage, disinformation and instances of political violence and threats during the campaign both against politicians and journalists, an absence of provisions allowing both citizen and international observers to access the process, and limited transparency and scope of campaign finance regulations.

Croatia’s 2024 early parliamentary elections were competitive, offering voters a broad range of political choices. The legal framework generally provided a sound basis for holding democratic elections, and the election administration enjoyed full confidence in managing all stages of the process. While the media landscape is diverse, concerns remain about the concentration of media ownership and the political affiliation of many media outlets, including the public broadcaster, as well as the high volume of pending litigation against journalists.

Between 21 and 22 November and 25 and 26 November 2024, the OSCE PCUz, in close collaboration with the Law Enforcement Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, is conducting training events on the topic of improving the efficiency of prosecutorial control over the investigation of human-trafficking

VIENNA, 22 November 2024 – The Maltese Chairpersonship of the OSCE, in collaboration with the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) and the 3CL Foundation, organised the Conference on Media Freedom in the OSCE region on 22 November 2024. The event addressed the multiple challenges facing free and independent media in the current digital landscape and their implications for democracy and security.