The 24th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will bring together nearly 300 parliamentarians from across the OSCE area in Helsinki, Finland on 5-9 July 2015. The theme for this year's Session is "Recalling the Spirit of Helsinki," a reference to the OSCE's founding document, the Helsinki Final Act, which was signed in the Finnish capital in 1975.
The crisis in and around Ukraine, the plight of migrants and refugees, arms control, climate change and minority rights are among a diverse array of critical security issues on the agenda.
Keynote speakers scheduled to address the Assembly include Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva, and several speakers of national parliaments.
The Session will also feature a presentation of the final results of the PA's Helsinki +40 Project, which has generated a wide range of ideas for Organizational reform ahead of the Final Act's milestone anniversary.
The Session will culminate in the adoption of the 2015 Helsinki Declaration, which will contain the Assembly's wide-ranging policy recommendations for the OSCE and its participating States in the fields of political affairs, economics, the environment and human rights.
Resolutions from each of the Assembly’s three General Committees will be debated, amended, and approved through majority voting before they are combined into the Declaration. If approved for consideration, and pending amendments and majority support, Supplementary Resolutions are included in annex to the Declaration, before the final document is sent to the foreign ministers of OSCE participating States and presented in national parliaments.
For further information please go: www.oscepa.org/meetings/annual-sessions/2015-annual-session-helsinki.