The Ukrainian delegation is formed of people's deputies of Ukraine A.Gerasymov (delegation head), O.Belkova, S.Vysotskyi, A.Heraschenko, T.Ostrikova, I.Popov and N.Shufrych.
Bringing together nearly 300 parliamentarians from 54 OSCE participating States, the 25th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is taking place 1-5 July 2016 at the ExpoGeorgia Exhibition Center in Tbilisi. The Session is held under the theme "25 Years of Parliamentary Co-operation: Building Trust Through Dialogue," commemorating the quarter-century anniversary of the Assembly's work.
The Session opened on 1 July with speeches by: Georgian Speaker of Parliament David Usupashvili; Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili; Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili; OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland); OSCE Chairman-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Speaker Usupashvili greeted the participants and noted that the 25th anniversary of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly almost coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Georgia's independence. Pointing out all success of the OSCE in counteracting different conflicts, at the same time, the speaker expressed his regrets over the failure of the organization to stop the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Georgia in 2008. He called for the reformation of the Organization that has to be able to respond to all modern challenges and threats.
In his speech, the President of Georgia drew particular attention to the importance of the OSCE's role in the settlement of disputable issues through negotiations and without military force. He expressed readiness of Georgia to continue cooperation with the Organization and its Parliamentary Assembly.
The Prime Minister of Georgia noted that his country and all its population highly appreciate the efforts and certain actions of the OSCE in its intention to ensure peace. He expressed hope that the implementation of the European integration policy by Georgia would help it restore its territorial integrity.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President drew attention of the session participants to the necessity for combining efforts in fight against international terrorism, consolidation of security of all countries, respect to territorial integrity and independence of international borders. The President thanked the members of the Parliamentary Assembly for their fruitful work over his two-year presidency.
Foreign Affairs Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier reminded the attendees of the session about a number of frozen conflicts and crisis spots within the OSCE region, having paid particular attention to the armed conflict in the east of Ukraine. He expressed concerns over nonobservance of the Minsk accords. The German foreign affairs minister called unacceptable attacks on the observers of the Special Monitoring Mission of the OSCE and the Mission's drones.
The XXV annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is traditionally conducted in a format of general plenary meetings and within the framework of three committees: the General Committee on Political Affairs and Security; the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment; and the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions.
The participants in the session will vote for three resolutions of the committees and 15 supplementary items aimed at modernization of the OSCE. Two of the 15 supplementary items were offered by the Ukrainian delegation.
The three Resolutions are:
Draft Resolution of the General Committee on Political Affairs and Security notes the necessity for intensification of efforts in the peaceful settlement of conflicts in the OSCE region.
Draft Resolution of the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment stresses the correlation between the status of the environment, economy and security.
