News and press releases

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, in co-operation with the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis (National Parliament) of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights (Ombudsperson), as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Uzbekistan, co-hosted the International Conference titled “Interaction and Cooperation in the Field of Reliable Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms.” The event took place on 23 February 2023 in Samarkand.

The OSCE supported the ninth annual meeting of the Permanent Conference of Organized Crime Prosecutors (PCOCP), held on 22 and 23 February in Belgrade, Serbia. The meeting gathered 25 prosecutors from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro continues to support of the Police Directorate in its fight against cyber and organised crime. On 21 February, Dominique Waag, Head of the Mission, and Zoran Brđanin, Police Director signed an agreement providing equipment and software which will enhance the investigative capacity of the Cybercrime/Intelligence Unit and the Forensic Centre to counter serious and organized crime.

ANKARA, 20 February 2023 – The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, and Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid visited Ankara to express their condolences to all those affected by the terrible earthquake that struck Türkiye and Syria on 6th February. They announced OSCE support to address immediate needs, as well as to provide longer term assistance.

BISHKEK, 17 February 2023 – Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, concluded his three-day visit to Kyrgyzstan today. He highlighted the country’s comprehensive legal and policy framework including a dedicated anti-trafficking law, regional coordination councils and a National Rapporteur established under the Parliament. He also called for the proactive identification of victims, increased prosecutions of trafficking offenders and improvement of the mandate of labour inspectors to identify human trafficking.

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the Netherlands and Cyber Law International, organized an executive course on the international law of cyber operations. This course took place between 13 and 17 February 2023 in Skopje, North Macedonia.

As part of the OSCE Mission to BiH project Enhancing of Intelligence-led Policing to Combat Serious Security Threats and Crimes (ILP Project), over the past four weeks the Mission organized both a workshop for senior managers of all law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in BiH and ten workshops for operational staff of the State Investigation and Protection Agency, BiH Border Police, BiH Directorate for Co-ordination of Police Bodies, Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, Indirect Taxation Authority, Brčko District Police, Police Administration of the Federation of BiH, and the police administrations of ministries of interior of nine cantons: Una-Sana; Posavina; Tuzla; Zenica-Doboj; Bosnian-Podrinje; Central Bosnia; Herzegovina-Neretva; West Herzegovina; and Canton 10.