News and press releases

VALLETTA/VIENNA, 12 July – The OSCE Chair-in-Office, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta Ian Borg, and OSCE Secretary General, Helga Maria Schmid, unequivocally condemn today’s sentencing of OSCE official Vadym Golda to 14 years in prison as a result of so-called “legal proceedings” and call for the immediate release of all three OSCE officials in detention, which also include Maxim Petrov and Dmytro Shabanov.

Within the framework of the pilot initiative “Fire Resilient Protected Areas: Shar/Šara Mountains and Korab Massif Area”, the OSCE has donated fire suppression equipment to five park management authorities in the four protected areas of Korab-Koritnik, Mavrovo, Shar Mountain and Sharri/Šara during the period April-June 2024. The donation is part of OSCE initiatives to strengthen regional co-operation in tackling wildfire risks in the shared hotspot Shar/Šara Mountains and Korab Massif Area where forest fires were identified as one of the main climate-related security threats.

Today, OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid acknowledged the remarkable achievements of OSCE staff in advancing gender equality and empowering women in the Organization at the fifth award ceremony held at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 11 July 2024- The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is concerned by certain aspects of today’s adoption by the Assembly of Kosovo of a new Law on the Independent Media Commission (IMC).

An OSCE-organized training seminar on establishing press services of state institutions and organizing their work took place on 9 and 10 July 2024 in Ashgabat. The two-day seminar exposed representatives of key government bodies and national media to  best communications practices of state

From 30 June to 5 July, the OSCE`s Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia, organized a study visit on Cybersecurity in Estonia for representatives from Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus.

In preparation for the 2025 parliamentary elections in Albania, on 9 July 2024, the OSCE Presence supported the Central Elections Commission (CEC) in organizing a roundtable discussion to identify and discuss issues impacting the effective administration of the 2025 parliamentary electoral process.