News and press releases

On 22 November 2024, 25 government officials from Central Asia gathered in Ashgabat for a Regional Conference on “Critical Infrastructure Protection in Central Asia: Strengthening Resilience, Enhancing Security”. The event was organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, in co-operation with the Government of Turkmenistan.

On 27 November, over 40 representatives from Central Asia, OSCE executive structures, UN entities and civil society organizations gathered for the Second Meeting of the Central Asia Regional Expert Council (REC) on the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Returnees.

Forensic document experts from the Main Forensic Centre of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine exchanged best practices and enhanced co-operation on passport security and forensic document examination during a study visit to Dublin, Ireland, from 18 to 22 November.

From 12 to 15 November, the second module of the OSCE training course on “Combatting Illicit Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), Ammunition and Explosives for Border and Customs Services” took place at the Advanced Training Faculty under the Customs Committee of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

From 12 to 14 November 2024, prosecutors and investigators of the Asset Recovery Committee of Kazakhstan (ARC) participated in an event on open-source intelligence (OSINT) techniques and tools to counter illicit financial activity associated to corruption and organized crime. Participants learned, among others, how publicly available data can be leveraged to trace the ownership and location of assets and how this evidence can be used in subsequent criminal proceedings. 

From 18 to 20 November 2024, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department (TNTD), in collaboration with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, delivered a three-day national table-top exercise in Sarajevo, which focused on preventing and countering the use of the internet for terrorist purposes.

Border officers from Albania State Police participated in a study visit to Milan, Italy from 13 to 15 November 2024. The study visit was organized by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in close co-operation with the Permanent Mission of Italy to the OSCE and Polizia di Frontiera – Aeroporto Malpensa, for three officers, including one woman and two men. The visit focused on document checks and border control operations at airports, including how first and second-line document officers can effectively cooperate to stop criminals attempting to travel on forged documents.