News and press releases

Eleven journalists from different media outlets participated in a training aiming to enhance the quality of reporting on incidents related to small arms and light weapons (SALW), with a specific focus on gender-based violence, on 3 June 2025. The interactive training was organized by the OSCE Presence as part of its support to Albanian authorities’ efforts to strengthen public awareness about the risks and misuse of SALW.

Transnational organized crime, specifically drug trafficking, remains a critical, shared threat that transcends national borders. It can only be effectively countered through co-ordinated, joint action grounded in international collaboration, sustained strategic commitment, and mutual trust. This was emphasized at the opening of a three-day international conference “Connecting the Drugs: Challenges and Threats from Expanding Trans-Atlantic Collusion and Traffic in Drug Crime”, organized by the OSCE Mission...

The OSCE Secretariat, together with the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, convened the 2025 Regional Meeting of Heads of Law Enforcement and Security Co-operation Departments (HoLEDs) on 4 and 5 June in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

More than 60 parliamentarians and experts from Europe and Central Asia gathered at the Finnish Parliament for a two-day workshop on gender-sensitive parliaments, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) with support from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and OSCE field operations. Entitled Realizing Gender Equality in and by Parliaments, the workshop highlighted the critical role of national parliaments in driving progress toward gender equality.

To promote women’s leadership in addressing transnational threats, women professionals from across Central Asia convened for a Regional Expert Group Meeting on 3 and 4 June in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The event focused on youth, gender and labour migration in the context of preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (P/CVERLT).

Recognizing the urgency to proactively protect journalists, Montenegrin stakeholders are working toward establishing a national press safety mechanism. In support of this effort, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro assists Montenegro in crafting a roadmap towards the creation of such mechanism modelled on PersVeilig, a Dutch press safety mechanism launched in 2019.

VIENNA, 4 June 2025 — The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Jan Braathu, yesterday concluded his first official visit to Hungary where he held bilateral meetings with Hungarian authorities as well as consultations with journalists and civil society representatives. He also gave a keynote speech at the General Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in Budapest.

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, held a workshop in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 29 and 30 May to support the country in developing a national competency framework and training strategy on cybercrime and electronic evidence.

On 2 and 3 June, the OSCE facilitated a study visit to Gibraltar for Moldova’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Hosted by Gibraltar’s Ministry of Justice, Trade and Industry, the visit aimed to deepen Moldova’s understanding of effective regulatory and operational responses to money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks linked to virtual assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs).

VIENNA, 3 June 2025 – More inclusive policymaking is needed to promote tolerance and counter discrimination in the OSCE region, OSCE leaders said at a two-day meeting to discuss effective ways of building inclusive societies through dialogue and participation, 50 years after OSCE participating States reaffirmed the universality of human rights and committed to respect the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief for all.