News and press releases

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 26 May 2023 — The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, concluded his one-day visit, during which he met President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz, and visited the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

The Special OSCE Asian Partners for Co-operation Group met today to discuss key aspects for ensuring women’s participation in political and public life. The meeting was convened by the Polish Chair of the Group.

The award ceremony for the winners of the 14th edition of the basin-wide contest “Colours of the Dniester”, organized for children and youth from the Dniester River basin in Ukraine and Moldova, took place on 26 May, 2023.

With the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, the Ministry of Interior- Police Directorate launches the “Respect Life – Return the Weapons” campaign, which should raise citizens’ awareness of the dangers and harmful consequences of firearms possession.

The PCUz supported the visit of a delegation of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ACA), headed by its Deputy Director Ms. Umida Tukhtasheva, to Paris from 23 to 25 May 2023. On 24 and 25 May, the delegation participated in the 2023 OECD Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum to discuss policy solutions and business innovations that strengthen integrity and fight corruption. Emphasis was placed on the importance of leadership, partnership, political integrity, open data and zero-tolerance against corruption.

An OSCE-supported regional training seminar on the practical implementation of the Vienna Document 2011 concluded on 25 May 2023 in Astana. Twenty-seven military officers from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan took part in the seminar.

From 22 to 24 May 2023, six prominent Ukrainian women peacebuilders, civil society representatives and mediators gathered in Vienna to discuss actions required to support women's leadership and participation in all decision-making processes. After two online meetings, this was the first in-person gathering of the group, organized by the Gender Issues Program in the Office of the Secretary General within the framework of the WIN-supported OSCE Networking Platform of Women Peace Leaders, including Peacebuilders and Mediators launched by Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid in December 2021.

SARAJEVO, 26 May 2023 – In response to the recent passing of the draft amendments to the Criminal Code of Republika Srpska, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHIR) raised concerns about their compatibility with the right to freedom of expression.

A five-day train-the-trainers course (ToT) for twelve staff members (seven women and five men) of the Women’s Resource Centres (WRC) concluded on 19 May 2023 in Dushanbe. The ToT provided the participants with skills and knowledge on how to promote harmony within vulnerable families and help reduce violence through a combination of gender norms, behavioural change and income-generating activities. The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe organized the ToT with the financial support of the United States of America, Finland, Norway Germany and Andorra.

BELGRADE, 25 May 2023 — The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, concluded a two-day visit to Serbia.

What procedures need to be followed in drafting primary legislation and what steps Parliament should take in considering proposed legislation – were the topics discussed at the workshop on practices of democratic law making and Parliament’s oversight role, organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro on 24 and 25 May in Podgorica.

On 25 May 2023, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, in co-operation with implementing partner Terre des Hommes Moldova, held a multi-stakeholder event in Chisinau, Moldova to present and discuss the findings of the OSCE needs assessment on youth crime prevention in the country.

Twenty specialists and practitioners of the military, law enforcement, and security services from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan completed a five-day Regional Explosive Hazards Awareness and Reduction course in Tashkent on 19 May 2023.

On 22 – 24 May 2023, the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department conducted a national table-top exercise in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on countering the use of the internet for terrorist purposes while respecting human rights. The exercise was organized together with the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

On 22 and 23 May, the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department organized a regional training event on cyber/ICT security in Astana, Kazakhstan. The training was organized in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

A group of eight young members of the OSCE Network of Youth for Gender Equality, four women and four men, visited Tbilisi, Georgia to network and learn about gender equality during a study visit from 1 to 4 May 2023. The visit was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe.

On 23 May 2023, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department hosted a side event on Promoting a whole-of-society approach to youth crime prevention on the margins of the 32nd Session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The event was organized in co-operation with the Permanent Missions of Germany and Italy to the OSCE.

BRČKO, 22 May 2023 – The OSCE Mission to BiH (the Mission), in co-operation with the Brčko District Government’s Police and Education Department, launched the “No to Internet violence!” project today. The project focuses on preventing and addressing cyberbullying.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo launched today its fifth Media Fellowship Programme, an annual initiative that seeks to develop young journalists’ skills and establish a network of fellow journalists from different communities.  Eight journalists from across Kosovo will visit local journalist

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.

On 17 and 18 May 2023, the III International Legal Forum “Tashkent Law Spring” was held in Tashkent. The event with the theme “Fundamental Rights as Eternal Values” was organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan and supported by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz).

Dominique Waag, Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, congratulates citizens on 21 May, the day 17 years ago Montenegro regained its independence through a peaceful and democratic referendum.

On 17 – 19 May 2023, a national table-top exercise (TTX) on addressing the use of the internet for terrorist purposes was organised in Astana, Kazakhstan by the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department, together with the OSCE Programme Office in Astana.

SARAJEVO, 18 May 2023 – A workshop to explore the cross-cutting subject of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and freedom of expression (FoE) as they relate to security was organized by the OSCE Mission to BiH (Mission) in Sarajevo today.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo launched today Guidelines for the Effective Performance of Municipal Coordination Mechanisms against Domestic Violence (MCMDV), a tool to facilitate more effective and co-ordinated responses to domestic violence cases. The MCMDVs aim to strengthen co-ordination,

SKOPJE/VIENNA, May 17, 2023 – The ninth South East Europe Media Conference, "At a Crossroads: Safeguarding Media Freedom to Protect Democracy," concluded today. The conference was organized by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) in collaboration with OSCE field operations from South East Europe.

How to draft a gender responsive budget was the focus of a two-day workshop for staff of parliamentary committees and units, organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro on 15 and 16 May in Podgorica.

On 16 May 2023, the OSCE and regional partners held a seminar in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for higher education institutions to present the OSCE-developed "Crime Prevention and Culture of Lawfulness" curriculum.

From 9 to 12 May 2023, the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department (TNTD), in co-operation with the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, organized an introductory training course on cybercrime and digital evidence at the Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan.

The inaugural event on launching these two projects, entitled “Improvement of SALW and CA life-cycle management capacity of Ministry of Defense of Kyrgyz Republic” and “Reducing risk of illicit SALW, ammunition and explosives proliferation across border of Kyrgyz Republic”, took place on 15 May 2023 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Building on a training course conducted in March, the State Election Commission together with the OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized a training session for municipal electoral commissions on how to train polling station staff ahead of 11 June parliamentary elections.

Tirana, 15 May 2023 – Albania’s 14 May local elections were generally well-administered, competitive and held with the participation of the country’s key political forces, but the process was characterized by continued polarization between the two main political parties in the country and deep divisions among the opposition, the international observers said in a statement today. Contestants could campaign freely, but issues of importance for local communities barely featured in the campaigns. Cases of the misuse of public resources at both the national and local levels, allegations of pressure on voters and public sector workers, in particular, and of vote-buying were of concern, the observers said.

On 12 May 2023, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov co-organized an expert meeting in Flensburg, Germany, entitled “Three Decades of HCNM’s Experience in Quiet Diplomacy and Conflict Prevention: Lessons Learned and New Challenges”. This is the first of a series of events to mark 30 years since his office was first opened in The Hague.

ANKARA, 15 May 2023 – Characterized by a high turnout, Türkiye’s general elections were well-managed and offered voters a choice between genuine political alternatives, but the current president and the ruling parties enjoyed an unjustified advantage. Continued restrictions on fundamental freedoms of assembly, association and expression hindered the participation of some opposition politicians and parties, as well as civil society and independent media, international observers said in a statement today.

TOKYO, 15 May 2023 – OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid concluded a visit to Japan, where she met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi and other officials and also took part in the Munich Security Conference Leaders’ Meeting hosted by Japan ahead of the G7 Summit.

SARAJEVO, 14 May 2023 — The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, concluded a two-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

A needs assessment to evaluate the fire mitigating measures in Montenegro concluded on 12 May, conducted by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) for the Ministry of Defense and with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.

VIENNA, 12 May 2023- Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Teresa Ribeiro concluded her visit to the United States of America from 1 – 5 May, where she presented the Joint Declaration on Media Freedom and Democracy and hosted several events on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day in New

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan – together with the Chamber of Advocates of the Republic of Uzbekistan and experts from the Centre de la Protection Internationale (Centre of International Protection) – organized the training titled “International Mechanisms for the Protection of Human Rights in the UN System”, held from 4 to 9 May in Samarkand. The event aimed to further develop the capacity of lawyers to protect and defend and human rights.

VIENNA, 11 May 2023- The current setbacks in media freedom in the OSCE region are not isolated incidents, but are closely linked to the larger political and social contexts in which they occur stated Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Teresa Ribeiro today during the presentation of her bi-annual report to the OSCE Permanent Council.

A three-day training course on strengthening North Macedonia’s capacity to implement targeted financial sanction regimes concluded today in Veles, North Macedonia. The training was jointly organized by the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the support of the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

An OSCE-organized three-day training course on counteracting trafficking in human beings for facilitators from Women’s Resource Centres (WRCs) concluded on 28 April 2023 in Dushanbe.

Twenty officers of the Tajik Border Troops completed the training course on operational planning on 5 May 2023 in Dushanbe. The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe (OSCE) organized the course in co-operation with the Tajik Border Troops. The training course was conducted in the framework of OSCE's project Patrol Field Capacity Building of the Tajik Border Troops through Promotion of Regional Co-operation- Phase II, financed by the Republic of France.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo held yesterday in Gračanica/Graçanicë the first of six workshops with young members of non-majority communities to inform them about employment opportunities available with the Kosovo Police and to familiarize them with recruitment procedures. The workshops will be

Today the OSCE Moscow Mechanism rapporteur Professor Hervé Ascensio presented his findings to the OSCE Permanent Council, collected in his report entitled ‘Report on the serious threat to the OSCE human dimension in Belarus since 5 November 2020’.

How young athletes can foster peace building and conflict resolution efforts and promote inclusive intercultural dialogues – was discussed at the fifth youth camp on “Intercultural Competence Skills in Sport”, organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Regional Youth Co-operation Office (RYCO) from 8 to 10 May in Kolašin.

United States mid-term elections The November mid-term congressional elections were competitive and professionally managed, with voters actively taking part. Candidates could campaign freely, but the tone was highly polarized and the campaign negatively impacted by harsh rhetoric. In many cases,

Ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro partnered with representatives from media self-regulatory bodies in Montenegro to draft a Manual on effective media reporting during election campaigns with 22 concrete recommendations in line with OSCE and international standards, and the Code of Ethics for Montenegrin Journalists.

The Regional Forum "E-commerce in handicraft as a driver of key changes in women's entrepreneurship in Central Asia", held on 5-6 May 2023 in Termez, Uzbekistan, provided a platform to discuss the role information technology (IT) and digital solutions play in the development of the handicraft sector, in particular for businesswomen. The Forum, organized by the International Business Women Association of Uzbekistan (IBWA) in co-operation with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz), brought together around 130 women entrepreneurs from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, as well as Afghan women established in Uzbekistan.

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe (Office) celebrated the World Press Freedom Day together with its national and international partners on 3 May 2023 in Dushanbe. This year’s theme "Shaping a Future of Rights. Freedom of Expression as a driver for all other human rights" created a platform for participants to re-engage, establish network, exchange experience, raise the awareness and discuss the current state of the media affairs in Tajikistan.