News and press releases

SKOPJE, 5 November 2024 — Organized crime poses an urgent threat in South-Eastern Europe, with illegal arms trafficking and migrant smuggling jeopardizing regional and global security. To confront these issues and drive concerted action across the region, the OSCE Mission to Skopje, in co-operation with EU4FAST, is hosting a High-Level Police and Customs Co-operation Conference in Skopje from 5 to 7 November.

On 1 November 2024, nineteen officers from the Tajik Border Troops successfully completed an intensive three-week Operational Planning Training (OPT) course. This achievement marks a significant milestone in the OSCE’s efforts to strengthen border security along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border.

The OSCE Presence in Albania has strengthened efforts in the fight against human trafficking by organizing a series of six local-level meetings with prosecutors and police officers throughout September and October 2024. The meetings aimed to address challenges in investigating and prosecuting human

On 30 and 31 October, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department's Border Security and Management Unit in close co-operation with the Spanish National Police hosted an interactive training course on gendered aspects of transnational threats in Madrid. The event brought together 27 first- and second-line border security officers from Albania, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Spain and Tunisia.

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mission), in co-operation with the Center against Trafficking in Works of Art (CPKU) and the Agency for Education and Professional Training Mostar (AEPTM), organized a three-day training on combatting illicit trafficking in cultural property in BiH for representatives and experts from law enforcement agencies, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, cultural ministries, academia, and NGOs.

Study Visit on promotion and exchange of good practices and modern standards in border controls and document security, with a special focus on biometric components in travel documents and countering illegal migration for State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS).

From 14 to 18 October, the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in partnership with experts from Greece’s Hellenic Police, conducted an intensive five-day advanced training course in Sofia, Bulgaria on identifying forged documents and impostors at border crossing points. Fifteen officers from