News and press releases

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), in collaboration with the 2023 North Macedonia Chairpersonship, organized a high-level conference on 7 July 2023 in Vienna. The participants reflected on the achievements, challenges and lessons learned in promoting long-term social cohesion

GENEVA, 23 June 2023 – The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, and the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Gillian Triggs, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reinforce the long-standing co-operation between their respective institutions under common areas of mandated responsibilities. This includes, in particular, the interface between the protection of displaced and stateless persons and the role of the HCNM as an instrument of conflict prevention at the earliest possible stage in regard to tensions involving national minorities.

During a working visit to the Republic of Turkmenistan from 12 to 16 June 2023, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov met with representatives of the national and regional authorities. The visit included meetings with high-level officials in Ashgabat and the Dashoguz

Good practices in the field of effective participation of national minorities and consultative mechanisms in the OSCE participating States were in focus of an OSCE-supported roundtable discussion that took place on 15 June 2023. The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat organized the event in co-operation with

On 7 June, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov together with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić,  launched the webpage: Collection of Council of Europe and OSCE National Minority Standards. Developed jointly, the webpage serves as an online resource, collecting in one place access to all key documents and texts on national minority standards from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe. The webpage aims to make these standards more widely accessible and available to policymakers, civil society and government authorities dealing with national minority issues.

NEW YORK, 30 May 2023 – At the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York, a high-level event was organized by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities in close co-operation with the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of North Macedonia to the UN, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Poland to the UN, representing the OSCE Chair and its Troika, respectfully.

DUSHANBE –19 MAY 2023: On his official visit to the Republic of Tajikistan from 15 to 19 May 2023, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov met representatives of the national, regional authorities and national minorities to discuss inter-ethnic relations, social cohesion and regional co-operation.