Thank you, Mr Chair.
The United Kingdom welcomes Deputy Head of Mission Susan Penska to the Permanent Council, and thanks her and her team for this comprehensive report. The United Kingdom reiterates our support for the important work and mandate of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, and the Mission’s key ongoing role in supporting government reforms and continued implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement.
Mr Chair, the United Kingdom strongly appreciates our continued strategic partnership with North Macedonia, and our mutual commitment to work closely together on foreign policy, trade and investment, tackling organised crime, infrastructure cooperation and migration.
The UK welcomes the stated focus of the OSCE Mission to Skopje’s Strategy for 2025 to 2027 – on criminal justice; integrity and anti‑corruption; fundamental rights and social cohesion; gender equality; and youth – and the Mission’s continued engagement on government reforms over the last 12 months. We would welcome an ongoing dialogue with other missions in Skopje to ensure we maximise impacts across our response.
In particular, we commend the Mission’s support to criminal justice reforms, helping to strengthen police‑prosecutor co‑operation, and raise compliance with fair trial standards. Such reforms are essential to increasing public trust and strengthening democratic resilience.
The UK recognises the Mission’s work to support fundamental rights and social cohesion, including through improving legal identity, and enabling access to basic rights and services. The Mission’s support to the expansion of Local Prevention Councils and structured community dialogue is important to strengthening local safety and confidence in institutions.
We warmly welcome the Mission’s continued focus on gender equality. The operationalisation of the Femicide Watch Initiative, the focus on victim‑centred policing, and sustained support for women’s political participation are meaningful contributions to preventing violence and advancing equality.
Mr Chair, the United Kingdom welcomes the significant achievement under Switzerland’s Chairpersonship of agreeing a Unified Budget for 2026. This brings to an end a prolonged period of financial uncertainty and provides the Organisation, including its field operations, with a more predictable basis for planning and delivery. The reduced budget envelope makes it all the more important that resources are prioritised effectively and that field missions are enabled to focus on delivering impact against their core mandates. We look forward to further substantive discussions on this matter over the coming months.
In closing, the UK reaffirms our strong bilateral partnership with North Macedonia and our firm support for the work and mandate of the OSCE Mission to Skopje. We encourage North Macedonia to sustain momentum on reforms, ensure full implementation of ODIHR recommendations, and continue close co‑operation on Mission priorities.
Thank you, Mr Chair.
