News and press releases

From 14 November to 7 December 2023, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina organized more than a dozen activities across BiH aiming to address and combat hate-motivated incidents while emphasizing the importance of social cohesion. These events included workshops, roundtables, presentations, and radio shows aimed at addressing and combatting hate-motivated incidents while emphasizing the significance of social cohesion.

On 11 December, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) organized a side event “Catalyzing change: Political will in fighting corruption” on the sidelines of the tenth session of the Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention against

Today, on 10 December, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina marks Human Rights Day by re-affirming our steadfast commitment to equality, dignity and justice for everyone living in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

From 6 to 8 December, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) and the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek supported the State Committee of National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic in delivering an introductory course on cybercrime and digital evidence to 20 representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic.

WARSAW/VIENNA, 8 December 2023 – Two decades after the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) embarked on its journey to improve the lives of Roma and Sinti and work towards societies that promotes the diversity of our nations, ODIHR is publishing its five-yearly report to assess efforts made by OSCE states in ensuring equal opportunities for Roma and Sinti people in all areas of life.

Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented the  final report on Albania’s 2023 local elections during a visit to Tirana that took place from 4 to 6 December 2023. Representatives from the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ad Hoc

In his final event as Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, on 7 December 2023, Ambassador Bruce Berton hosted a special meeting of the International Election Working Group with the Heads of Missions from OSCE participating States and international organizations in Albania. The meeting focused on

On 6 December 2023, in Tashkent, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, jointly with the Committee on Innovative Development, Information Policy and Information Technology of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Public Fund for Support and

On the occasion of Human Rights Day on 10 December, the University of Sarajevo’ s Faculty of Law, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), hosted a conference titled "Freedom of Religion or Belief: Contemporary Challenges and Perspectives” in Sarajevo.

BELGRADE, 7 December 2023 – The OSCE Mission to Serbia awarded the 2023 Person of the Year award to Dr. Mirjana Drenovak-Ivanović, a full tenure professor in Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade, and to Mr. Dejan Stojanović, a lawyer at the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications.

On 5 December 2023, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) supported an International Conference on Sustainable Conservation and Management of Protected Areas, organized by the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change.  While we are globally confronted with a

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo organized today a roundtable discussion with Mayor Shaqir Totaj and representatives of Islamic, Serbian Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant Evangelical, Jewish, and Tarikats communities in Prizen to support the municipality in promoting dialogue and fostering partnerships with

GENEVA, 6 December 2023- The 59th round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) took place on 5-6 December 2023 in accordance with the six-point agreement of 12 August 2008 and implementing measures of 8 September 2008. This round was held in two working groups meeting in parallel on security and humanitarian issues, as per usual practice.

More than 50 representatives from the BiH High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, law enforcement agencies, and institutions across the country gathered in Jahorina for a workshop organized by the OSCE Mission to BiH titled "Instituting and Facilitating Regular Inter-agency Meetings and Briefings Between Agencies and Prosecution".

Identifying new ways to engage men in working towards gender equality was the focus of a conference organized by the OSCE WIN and CHANGE projects on 5 and 6 December in Warsaw.

Seventeen officials from the General Prosecutor´s office, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Finance, and the Parliament of Turkmenistan strengthened their knowledge of corruption proofing draft legislation in a training course held from 4 to 6 December 2023 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) organized the training in co-operation with the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

Between 15 and 24 November, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Faculty of Law of the University of Montenegro administered a mock election asking students to write down their priorities on a ballot. The ballot was a questionnaire that canvassed youth on a range of issues and priorities. Ballot boxes were placed at the Faculty of Law, Political Sciences, and Economics in Podgorica. An email address for online voting was set up too.

Ukrainian journalists, editors, media managers, communication experts from governmental and public sectors spent four days in a Carpathian resort to withdraw from day-to-day work hassle and war-related trials in order to take a critical look at the state of affairs in country’s media sphere at a seminar organized by Aspen Institute Kyiv and the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU). The event "Media and Reality: Dimensions of Responsibility," that took place in Polyana, Zakarpathia oblast on 29 November – 3 December 2023, involved 24 media community leaders selected through an open call for applications.

Bishkek, 21 November 2023- The Anti-Terrorism Centre of the State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic (ATC SCNS KR), in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, organized a roundtable on implementing the Programme of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic on countering extremism and terrorism for 2023-2027 and its Action Plan. The event brought together high-level representatives of the Kyrgyz government.

SKOPJE, 1 December 2023 – The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, announced the selection of Malta for the 2024 OSCE Chairpersonship and the extension of senior officials at the closing of the 30th Ministerial Council in Skopje today.

Between 5 October and 30 November 2023, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, in co-operation with Kosovo Police, trained a total of 142 police officers from different communities on individual needs assessment for victims of hate crimes.

TUZLA, 1 December 2023- The OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in co-operation with the Center against Trafficking in Works of Art (CPKU), hosted the exhibition “Missing Works of Art”, which was followed by a panel discussion on combatting illicit trafficking in cultural property in BiH.

During the 16 Days of Activism campaign, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, the OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Serbian Justice and Interior Ministries delivered a training course helping police officers and prosecutors from several Serbian municipalities effectively respond to cases of violence against women and girls while maintaining a victim-centred approach.

The last in a series of OSCE-supported three-day seminars on ethics and psychology of family relations, which focused on gender roles, gender relations and domestic violence, concluded on 1 December 2023. Whereas the first seminar took place in October and targeted youth representatives, the second

On 1 December, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Bujar Osmani and 45 OSCE participating States issued a joint statement at a Ministerial Council (MC) side event with OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Teresa Ribeiro on the safety of women journalists.

Over forty young and future diplomats participated in OSCE-organized workshops on effective negotiation that took place from 29 November to 1 December 2023 in Ashgabat. The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat organized the workshops to promote OSCE best practices and mechanisms in conflict prevention and early

The 2023 Chairpersonship of North Macedonia hosted a side event on “Addressing the Impact of Climate Change on Human Security in the OSCE Area” during the 30th Ministerial Council taking place in Skopje. Addressing the impact of climate change has been a key priority of the Chairpersonship of North

On 27 and 28 November, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, together with the Ministry of Sports and Youth, gathered 19 young athletes – nine boys and ten girls from eight sports disciplines at the workshop on engaging youth in countering violent extremism and radicalization.

On November 30, 2023, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted a conference titled "Participation of citizens in decision-making at the local level in BiH: Towards a meaningful partnership”.

SKOPJE, 29 November 2023 — Putting a stop to the war against Ukraine and strengthening civil society across the OSCE were at the heart of recommendations put forward by civil society representatives from across the OSCE region. The recommendations were handed down at the annual OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference held in Skopje today.

Digital and media literacy, gender equality and human rights of persons with disabilities were the main topics of the seminar “Informed, motivated and active youth”, organized in Budva from 22 to 24 November by the NGO Centre for Youth Education, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, for 20 young people aged 18 to 30 from across Montenegro.

On November 24, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz), together with the Ombudsperson for Children and the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan convened the round table on “Preventing the involvement of children and youth in criminal activities on Internet” in

SKOPJE/VIENNA/WARSAW, 25 November 2023- Launching the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, OSCE leaders called on participating States to step up their efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls, end impunity and support survivors.

As part of ongoing efforts by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to strengthen democratic institutions and respect for human rights in the OSCE region, ODIHR Director Matteo Mecacci visited Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia on 7-17 November 2023. This began

An OSCE-organized regional workshop on gender mainstreaming in border management, held in a blended format, took place on 23 and 24 November 2023 in Ashgabat. The workshop brought together, online and in-person, officials from the five Central Asian countries’ border security and management agencies.

Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented the final reports on Kazakhstan’s 2023 early parliamentary elections, 2022 early presidential election and 2022 referendum during a visit to Astana and Almaty that took place from 20 to 24 November

On 24 November, OSCE participating States met in Vienna at an event hosted by the Secretary General to seek an end to the scourge of femicide and to develop a roadmap to end the killing of women, merely for being women.

From 20 to 24 November, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and INTERPOL in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and the Ministry of Interior of the Kyrgyz Republic, conducted a training course on criminal intelligence analysis for Kyrgyz police officers.

On 24 November 2023, the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe completed its second Operational Planning Training course for 22 Staff Officers of the Tajik Border Troops in Bokhtar, Khatlon Region.

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, and the Permanent Representation of France to the OSCE organized a study visit to Paris for government officials from Tajikistan, familiarizing them with France’s approach to the protection of soft targets from terrorist attacks.

How to investigate and report on gender-based violence with a victim-centred approach, was the focus of a training course the OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized for students from the Media Studies and Journalism Department of the Faculty of Political Science on 23 November.

VIENNA, 23 November 2023 – At a pivotal juncture for media freedom, Teresa Ribeiro, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, delivered her sixth biannual report to the Permanent Council today. The report, a reflection on her three-year tenure, portrays a media environment under duress. With media freedom serving as a barometer of democratic viability, Ribeiro's findings signal an urgent call to action.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo, in co-operation with the Council of Europe and the Kosovo Assembly, organized on 22 November 2023 in Prishtinë/Priština a high-level panel on the role of the Assembly in monitoring the implementation of the Istanbul Convention. Preceding the “16 Days of Activism against

The State Commission for Religious Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic hosted the International Conference "Kyrgyzstan- a Country of Interfaith Peace and Harmony" with the support of the Programme Office in Bishkek. The Conference is dedicated to fostering collaboration on current religious issues and interfaith harmony.

On November 23, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina successfully hosted a Cybersecurity/ICT Fair in Sarajevo. The primary goal of the event was to increase awareness and networking possibilities among stakeholders from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the surrounding region, including the public sector, businesses, academia, women, and youth. This distinctive platform serves as a crucial space for professionals and decision-makers to exchange best practices while supporting increased collaboration in the field of cybersecurity, with a particular focus on the meaningful participation of women and youth.

On 23 November, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan organized a lecture on cryptocurrency-related crimes for the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Tashkent. The OSCE briefed around 120 cadets and

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan brought together twenty-five senior representatives from all the major Central Asian law enforcement educational institutions and the staff from the regional OSCE field operations to discuss best practices in training criminal justice practitioners on the investigation of cybercrimes and other crimes involving electronic evidence.

On 21-22 November, the two-day training on preventing trafficking in human beings the hospitality sector was conducted by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) in co-operation with the National Commission on Combatting Trafficking in Persons and Forced Labour. Thirty-two (seven women

Numerous representatives of BiH civil society, media, experts and the international community called on the RS authorities to withdraw the draft legislation on ‘foreign agents’ at the “Civil Society and the Media: Critical Voices Under Pressure” conference held in Dom omladine in Banja Luka on 22 November 2023. The conference was organized by the EU Office in BiH with the OSCE Mission to BiH and Transparency International in BiH.

The 11th Working Group Meeting on Environmental Protection under the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Chu-Talas Water Commission (the Commission) took place on 21 November 2023 in Almaty city. The meeting was supported and co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana (POiA) and the OSCE