The 25th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) has begun with holding of the meeting of the Standing Committee where the budget of the Assembly for 2016/2017 was adopted unanimously. In addition to that, the OSCE PA President Mr Ilkka Kanerva and Secretary General Mr Roberto Montella presented activities of the Assembly in the previous six months and on that occasion they pointed out the promotion of cooperation of the Parliamentary Assembly with other OSCE structures, but also other significant organisations such as the Council of Europe.

The meeting of the Standing Committee was marked by voting for verification of resolutions which would become a part of harmonised Joint Declaration, whose adoption was anticipated at the plenary session on Monday. The two-third majority supported a total of fifteen resolutions, dealing with issues of security, democracy, and human rights, and the economic aspect and protection of the environment in the field covered by the OSCE.

Furthermore, they presented the report by the observation mission during the parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan held in May, but also findings of special rapporteurs on security situation in Moldova, Southern Caucasus, Central and East Asia, Arctic and Baltic area.  

Today’s Plenary Session was opened by the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Mr David Usupashvili, and the attendees were also welcomed by the President of Georgia Mr Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Mr Giorgi Kvirikashvili, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Mr Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Mr Pedro Agramunt.  

The focus of this year’s Session was the significance of parliamentary dialogue and promotion of cooperation between member states in order to combat all types of threats, primarily in the security sense, and the making of efforts with regard to deescalation of the current conflicts. At the gathering, bringing together more than 300 parliamentarians from the OSCE region, it was emphasised that the future of the OSCE depended on preservation of the Helsinki principles, mirroring the existence of political will, commitment to compromise, and building of trust and joint action towards addressing the challenges in the field covered by the OSCE. The message of today’s Plenary Session was - in time of prominent security threats, it is important to build trust among countries and peoples, and to ensure peace and security on the principle of mediation and consensus.

Meetings of general committees are planned for tomorrow, and they will be marked by consideration of resolutions forwarded to the committees relevant to the issues they are in charge of.

Participants in the Annual Session are MPs Mr Slaven Radunović and Mr Branko Čavor.