President of the Parliament of Montenegro and OSCE PA Mr Ranko Krivokapić stayed in Vienna where he spoke at the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council. During his visit, the President Krivokapić met with the President of Austria Mr Heinz Fischer and the OSCE Secretary General Mr Lamberto Zannier.

In his address to the OSCE Permanent Council, consisting of the diplomatic representatives of OSCE member states, the PA President Krivokapić pointed out that the work of building democracy and protection of human rights demanded continuous efforts and that the OSCE strength rested on a good institutional framework enabling dedicated tackling of these issues. He reminded that the OSCE was the only regional organisation incorporating such a wide spectrum of states, from Vancouver to Vladivostok, and thus the expectations from our organisation were significant when speaking of dealing with numerous global challenges of today.

“The world is changing rapidly, therefore our joint answers to challenges must be quicker than ever”, said Mr Krivokapić.

The PA President Krivokapić pointed out that one of the important challenges that the OSCE was currently facing was the issue of its future positioning on the global stage, awaiting the 40^th anniversary of signing the final Helsinki Act. He pointed out that the Helsinki 40+ process should provide a comprehensive model of revitalisation of the vision and the role of OSCE, aimed at strengthening its effectiveness and thus mark a new era of development of the Organisation. “Further strengthening of the position of the Parliamentary Assembly  will significantly contribute to enhancing transparency, legitimacy and effectiveness of OSCE as a whole”, said Mr Krivokapić.

“You, permanent representatives, who live and work in the space (Hofburg Palace) out of which for 6 centuries the greater part of Europe from the Atlantic Ocean to the East had been governed, I am convinced that you have the capacities to strengthen this organisation in order to even more strongly keep fulfilling the life interests of the citizens in the field of human rights, security and economic development, in the decades to come”, concluded Mr Krivokapić at the end of his address.

In his conversation with the OSCE Secretary General Mr Lamberto Zannier, the President Krivokapić spoke on further steps of promotion of cooperation between the Parliamentary Assembly and other structures inside the OSCE. They jointly concluded that that the PA, as one of the pillars of organisation, should be even more included in OSCE policy creation.

In Vienna, the President Krivokapić spoke with the President of Austria Mr Heinz Fischer on bilateral relations between Montenegro and Austria. Mr Krivokapić thanked the President Fischer for the support that Austria had been giving to Montenegro on the path of its democratic maturing. “That support is especially significant even today when Montenegro is in the intensive and demanding process of European integration”. The President Krivokapić pointed out that the integration process represented a key state interest, considering that Montenegro would like to become a society that was democratically mature, stable and had full rule of law.

The Presidents Fischer and Krivokapić also spoke on the challenges that the OSCE was facing, awaiting the 40^th anniversary of signing the final Helsinki Act. 

When congratulating Mr Krivokapić on his election as the OSCE PA President, the President Fischer stated that in this historically important moment for OSCE, it was especially significant that someone from the “country of encounter of civilisations” should be at the front of the Organisation.