News and press releases

SKOPJE, 14 June 2023 — The OSCE Mission to Skopje unveiled a renovated administrative building for the Police Canine (K9) Unit of North Macedonia today in Hipodrom, a suburb of Skopje. The Mission helped equip the building with modern IT surveillance infrastructure and provided secure access control systems to the weapon storage facility for authorized personnel. These efforts help improve working conditions for police officers, making them better equipped to respond to emerging threats and ensure the efficient deployment of police service dogs.

From 12 to 14 June, 26 young professionals from Western Europe had the opportunity to try their hand at diplomatic negotiations as they simulated the Helsinki Process by renegotiating the Helsinki Final Act as part of the 2023 Model OSCE event. The event, which takes place annually, was organized by the OSCE Office of the Secretary General, in close co-operation with the OSCE Chair of North Macedonia, and in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe.

The first two groups of operators and dispatchers of Ukraine’s National Police emergency “102” hotline have strengthened their knowledge and skills in effective communication with children during a series of two-day trainings organized by the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine in Uzhhorod from 6 to 9 June 2023.

On 14 June, in co-operation with the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department and OSCE Chairpersonship of North Macedonia, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) held a regional consultation on the United Nations Programme of Action for cybersecurity. The consultations seek to advance responsible behaviour in the use of information and communications technologies in the context of international security.

On 8 June, Judge Erkki Kourula, Vice-President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, addressed the Permanent Council, reporting on the Court’s activities in the past year. He reminded that the OSCE Court, based on a treaty concluded within the OSCE, should not be considered only as a theoretical example of legal idealism but also as a mechanism based on flexible models to achieve practical results.

The first-hand accounts and experiences of judges and prosecutors are at the heart of a corruption risk assessment in the justice system by the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption. This assessment, published today with the support of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, sheds a light on the risks

VIENNA, 12 June 2023- The OSCE Secretary General, Helga Maria Schmid, concluded her visit to Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan on 8 June. She met with high-level government officials, parliamentarians and civil society representatives, and discussed how the OSCE can facilitate regional solutions in addressing the broad range of security challenges that the region is facing and provide further support across all aspects of the OSCE’s work.