Thirty-nine OSCE participating states issued a joint statement at the 2025 Ministerial Council, marking 50 years since the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and reaffirming that European security depends on respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.
Published by the UK government and delivered on behalf of the group by Denmark, the statement spoke for Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Denmark.
Framing the anniversary as a compliance test, the signatories recall the Helsinki understanding that the protection of human dignity is a legitimate international concern. They stress that accountability for violations, respect for human rights and democratic governance remain essential foundations for lasting peace, to be upheld individually and collectively.
The text warns that actions by some participating states-directed at neighbours or at their own populations-are eroding this foundation, through both overt abuses and the quieter, incremental restriction of the freedoms that safeguard against repression.
The statement condemns Russia’s ongoing illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, enabled by the Lukashenka regime in Belarus and other third countries. It references the seventh interim report of ODIHR’s Ukraine Monitoring Initiative and a Moscow Mechanism report on the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war as the latest documentation.
According to those findings, the Russian Federation has engaged in widespread and systematic violations of international humanitarian and human rights law with respect to prisoners of war; the Moscow Mechanism rapporteur notes that these may constitute war crimes and, in some cases, arguably crimes against humanity, alongside intensifying domestic repression.
The signatories state their determination to pursue full accountability for war crimes and other serious violations related to the invasion of Ukraine, and to secure victims’ rights to justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition.
On Belarus, the group notes the release of some political prisoners but records that systematic repression persists: an estimated 1,218 political prisoners remain, fresh arrests continue, and credible reports cite large-scale torture, ill‑treatment and incommunicado detention.
In Georgia, the statement highlights the lack of investigation into reports of excessive force against protesters exercising freedoms of assembly and expression. In Serbia, it cites police raids against civil society organisations, repeated incidents of violence around protests, and verbal attacks by leading politicians against media, academia and peaceful demonstrators as evidence of a shrinking democratic space.
The group adds that legislative restrictions in Georgia threaten civil society and media independence; that while Azerbaijan has taken positive steps towards peace with Armenia, severe restrictions on civil society and independent media continue; and that in Turkmenistan, opacity around historic enforced disappearances and ongoing intimidation remains a serious concern. Across the region, a tightening environment for journalism and civic actors-offline and online-risks normalising repression and hollowing out democratic institutions.
It condemns all violations of international law, including international humanitarian law, and all violations and abuses of human rights, and reiterates demands for accountability including for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
The statement underscores civil society’s role in advocating for rights and monitoring human-dimension commitments, recognising that many defenders operate at significant personal risk.
Signatories reaffirm the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) as the principal platform for reviewing implementation with civil society. They welcome this year’s Warsaw Human Dimension Conference as a credible alternative amid obstruction, insist that HDIM must be held next year as mandated, and pledge support to the 2026 Chair to achieve this.
They commend the OSCE’s autonomous institutions for promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law, restating full support for ODIHR’s independent election observation as a safeguard of electoral integrity and calling on all participating states to honour election-related commitments.
The group sets out continued priorities: advancing the rights of women and girls, gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights; protecting freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief; pressing for the release of all arbitrarily detained; preventing and eradicating torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; securing accountability for abuses including hate crimes facilitated by digital technologies; countering misinformation and disinformation; and promoting inclusion without violence or discrimination on grounds of identity, appearance, belief or whom people love. They will continue to hold participating states to account, recall the Helsinki Final Act’s stipulation that human rights concerns are not solely internal matters, and commit to full implementation of OSCE principles, while thanking the OSCE Chairpersonship, the Human Dimension Committee chair and the autonomous institutions for their work.