Gudrun Kugler in Dushanbe, 29 October 2025COPENHAGEN, 3 November 2025 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President Gudrun Kugler (Austria) visited Tajikistan last week, holding a series of meetings with representatives of the international community, parliament and civil society who informed her of the challenges facing the country, including migration and human trafficking. Vice-President Kugler noted the importance of parliamentarians regularly undertaking field visits to learn and develop concrete ideas for their work in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
“It is a great privilege to have had the opportunity to get to know Tajikistan and to return with much food for thought,” Kugler said. “Tajikistan impressed me with its warmth, its young generation, and its determination to move forward despite major challenges.”
She had an in-depth discussion in the Tajik Parliament with Tajikistan’s Head of Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Mahmadshoh Gulzoda, aiming to deepen bilateral and regional co-operation and support the delegation’s active participation in the work of the Assembly. In a visit to the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, Kugler noted that the staff works with remarkable dedication, but like many other OSCE field presences it faces significant budgetary pressure. With less funding available for programmes, Kugler emphasized that OSCE participating States could help by providing extra-budgetary contributions or by increasing secondments.
She also met with the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s office in Tajikistan and visited two women’s shelters: one for victims of domestic violence, supported by the OSCE, and another for women who have been victims of human trafficking, supported by IOM.
Discussions focused on challenges related to migration, which Kugler noted is ubiquitous in Tajikistan. She also emphasized that issues such as domestic violence and human trafficking are part of the broader security discourse in the country. “The women’s shelters I visited in Dushanbe and outside the city Obikiik are true places of peacebuilding,” Kugler said.
Concluding her visit, the Vice-President emphasized the importance of regular visits by OSCE parliamentarians to OSCE field presences to generate greater political support for their work, which she said is especially important in difficult times.
