News and press releases

VIENNA/SARAJEVO, 4 March 2023- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, and Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Brian Aggeler, have made the following statement following the BiH’s entity Republika Srpska (RS) Government’s decision to move forward with reinstating the criminal offence of defamation in the RS Criminal Code.

On 2 March 2023, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the support of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, concluded a training of trainers aimed at furthering the skills of beneficiary entities to conduct effective financial investigations in counter-terrorism.

The integration of the issue of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) into the monitoring of places of detention was the focus of a three-day training course organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) from 1 to 3 March in Tashkent.

SKOPJE, 3 March 2023 — In order to boost independent journalism in North Macedonia, the OSCE Mission to Skopje has signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with the Media Information Agency (MIA), a state-owned public enterprise and country’s biggest news agency.

WARSAW, 3 March 2023 – Following today’s conviction of four Belarusian human rights defenders, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) voices deep concern over the targeting of human rights defenders and the criminalizing of their work.

SREBRENICA, 3 March 2023- Ambassador Brian Aggeler, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, visited Srebrenica area today where he met key local counterparts.

ERGNETI, 2 March 2023- The 111th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was held today in Ergneti, under the co-facilitation of the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), Dimitrios Karabalis, and Viorel Moşanu, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus.

The third national workshop on the social re-use of confiscated assets in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was held on 28 February in Sarajevo. The workshop was organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, the Office of the OSCE Co-ordinator for Economic and Environmental Activities, and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Key challenges and opportunities for civil society in the follow-up on election observation recommendations were the focus of a conference that took place in Warsaw on 21 and 22 February 2023, as a part of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) “ Support to Electoral

Use of gender indicators to monitor the quality of new national strategic documents and their implementation was the focus of the workshop the OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized for the General Secretariat of the Government on 28 February.

Women professionals in Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe now have two new regional networks for generating new ideas, learning from each other and amplifying their work on preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (P/CVERLT).

The OSCE Mission handed over today its Kosovo Funding Portal – a source of funding and training opportunities for civil society organizations (CSOs) – to the CSOs network ‘Platforma CiviKos’, in a move aimed at increasing local ownership and long-term sustainability of digital tools to support

SOFIA, 1 March 2023 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission (EOM) for the 2 April early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, following an invitation from the country’s authorities.

From 22 to 24 February 2023, the OSCE Presence in Albania hosted a regional expert meeting on advancing the regulatory framework of police canine units, in Korça. The event brought together representatives of such units from Tirana, Sarajevo, Podgorica, Belgrade, Skopje, Pristina, and canine

On 27 February, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro delivered advanced training course complimented with mentoring to participants coming from 10 ministries on how to implement the guidelines for gender-responsive budgeting and reporting, developed in 2022 with the Mission’s support.

The development of women’s business in agriculture was the focus of the Forum of Women Farmers “Digitization and New Technologies – Success Way of Farmer Women” co-organized today by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) together with the International Business Women Association of Uzbekistan (IBWA) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

On 23 and 24 February, the OSCE’s Transnational Threat Department (TNTD) conducted a two-day needs assessment visit in Podgorica on the status of Montenegro’s Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Record (API/PNR) system.

The 2 October early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria were competitive and fundamental freedoms were generally respected. Despite late preparations, and limited technical and administrative capacity of election administration, elections were conducted adequately. Contestants received substantial

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov visited Finland from 13 to 17 February 2023.

SKOPJE, 27 February 2023 — In order to improve quality of justice, the OSCE Mission to Skopje has signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with the national Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors (AJPP). 

VIENNA, 24 February 2023 — Marking one year since Russian Federation launched a devastating full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, made the following statement:

VIENNA, 24 February 2023 — Today the OSCE Troika —Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto — and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, President of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Margareta Cederfelt and Secretary General Roberto Montella made the following statement:

WARSAW, 24 February 2023 – A year after the launch of Russia’s military attack in Ukraine, the armed conflict is still having a devastating effect on civilians as they continue to be impacted by ongoing military strikes and subjected to other violence and inhumane treatment, said the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, in co-operation with the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis (National Parliament) of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights (Ombudsperson), as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Uzbekistan, co-hosted the International Conference titled “Interaction and Cooperation in the Field of Reliable Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms.” The event took place on 23 February 2023 in Samarkand.

The OSCE supported the ninth annual meeting of the Permanent Conference of Organized Crime Prosecutors (PCOCP), held on 22 and 23 February in Belgrade, Serbia. The meeting gathered 25 prosecutors from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro continues to support of the Police Directorate in its fight against cyber and organised crime. On 21 February, Dominique Waag, Head of the Mission, and Zoran Brđanin, Police Director signed an agreement providing equipment and software which will enhance the investigative capacity of the Cybercrime/Intelligence Unit and the Forensic Centre to counter serious and organized crime.

ANKARA, 20 February 2023 – The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, and Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid visited Ankara to express their condolences to all those affected by the terrible earthquake that struck Türkiye and Syria on 6th February. They announced OSCE support to address immediate needs, as well as to provide longer term assistance.

BISHKEK, 17 February 2023 – Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, concluded his three-day visit to Kyrgyzstan today. He highlighted the country’s comprehensive legal and policy framework including a dedicated anti-trafficking law, regional coordination councils and a National Rapporteur established under the Parliament. He also called for the proactive identification of victims, increased prosecutions of trafficking offenders and improvement of the mandate of labour inspectors to identify human trafficking.

The OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the Netherlands and Cyber Law International, organized an executive course on the international law of cyber operations. This course took place between 13 and 17 February 2023 in Skopje, North Macedonia.

As part of the OSCE Mission to BiH project Enhancing of Intelligence-led Policing to Combat Serious Security Threats and Crimes (ILP Project), over the past four weeks the Mission organized both a workshop for senior managers of all law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in BiH and ten workshops for operational staff of the State Investigation and Protection Agency, BiH Border Police, BiH Directorate for Co-ordination of Police Bodies, Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, Indirect Taxation Authority, Brčko District Police, Police Administration of the Federation of BiH, and the police administrations of ministries of interior of nine cantons: Una-Sana; Posavina; Tuzla; Zenica-Doboj; Bosnian-Podrinje; Central Bosnia; Herzegovina-Neretva; West Herzegovina; and Canton 10.

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina organized the event “Legal Framework in the Process of Determining the Time and Place of Birth of Children Born in the Conflict Zone”, which took place today in Sarajevo.

CHISINAU/SKOPJE, 15 February 2023 — The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, concluded his visit to Moldova.

The efforts of the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings to advance the dialogue on combating the misuse of technology by traffickers to exploit victims are being complemented by OSCE field operations. In this view, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in partnership with the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, and the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General’s Office of Kazakhstan organized a regional roundtable on combatting tech-facilitated trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Ambassador Brian Aggeler, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, visited Mostar region yesterday to open a photo exhibition "National Monuments in Bosnia and Herzegovina" and the best photography award ceremony, hosted and organized by the Foundation Museum Žitomislić and monastery Žitomislić.

On 10 February 2023, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, in co-operation with the Chamber of Advocates of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Justice and the international NGO Regional Dialogue, co-hosted in Tashkent the International Conference of Lawyers on “The Role of Professional Bar

PODGORICA, 9 February 2023- The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an observation mission for the 19 March presidential election in Montenegro, following an invitation from the national authorities.

With the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, around 50,000 verbatim records of sessions of Parliament of Montenegro from 1991 to 2008 were digitized and are searchable by date, year, convocation, session, political party and speaker. This process was finalized on 8 February with a training course for parliamentary staff on practical use of the software, developed with the Mission’s support in 2022.

ASTANA, 8 February 2023 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission for the 19 March early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, following an official invitation from the national authorities and in accordance with its mandate.

SKOPJE, 7 February 2023 – Taking stock of current efforts to counter anti-Semitism, an action that signifies further steps that need to be applied urgently, has been the central message of the participants of the of the 2023 Skopje Conference on Addressing anti-Semitism in the OSCE Region.

Representatives of national institutions responsible for environmental inspection, enforcement and prosecution came together in a technical workshop on 2 February 2023. The event was organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania that has taken the lead in conducting a baseline assessment on the

Bosnia and Herzegovina general elections 2022: ODIHR election observation mission final report The October 2022 general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina were well organized and competitive. Nevertheless, universal and equal suffrage is still not guaranteed. Increasing segmentation along ethnic

From 30 January to 3 February, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, organized a training course for first responders on handling digital evidence at the Almaty Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

From 31 January to 2 February, 20 women human rights activists from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine, and renowned international experts, gathered in Vienna to provide concrete recommendations for enhancing protection and response to violence against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict settings.

VIENNA, 1 February 2023 — OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, made an official visit to Greece from 25 to 26 January 2023. She met with several counterparts, including Secretary General for Communication and Information Dimitris Galamatis, Adviser to the Prime Minister Konstantinos Koutras, Member of Parliament Dimitris Markopolous, President of the Journalists' Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers Maria Antoniadou, as well as journalists from the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation ERT and representatives of the media community.

SKOPJE, 1 February 2023 — The Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, Kilian Wahl, and North Macedonia’s Minister of Education and Science, Jeton Shaqiri, signed two agreements today to improve integrated education for children of different communities within the country.

SKOPJE/VIENNA, 31 January 2023- Rabbi Andrew Baker, Personal Representative on Combating Anti-Semitism, Associate Professor Dr. Regina Polak, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions, and Ambassador Dr. Ismail Hakki Musa, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims made the following statement:

BRUSSELS, 31 January 2023 – The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani emphasized the need for comprehensive solutions that put people, their safety and well-being, first to address the security challenges facing Europe during his visit to Brussels today.  

GENEVA/BRUSSELS/VIENNA, 31 January 2023- The Co-Chairs of the Geneva International Discussions (GID), United Nations Representative to the Geneva International Discussions Cihan Sultanoğlu, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus Viorel Moșanu and European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar, reiterate the full commitment of their respective organizations to the GID process.

SOFIA, 31 January 2023- OSCE Special Representative Valiant Richey and the Executive Secretary to the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) Petya Nestorova called on Bulgaria to take urgent measures to strengthen its prevention and response to trafficking in human beings.

The fifth edition of the “Open Data Challenge” hackathon – held from 27 to 29 January 2023 in Tashkent – concludes trainings on open data. More than 280 teams from all over Uzbekistan and abroad competed to develop technological solutions based on open data as a way to increase the interest of citizens in using open data.