VIENNA, 30 June 2008 - The situation in Afghanistan will be the focus of an address by General John Craddock, NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, to the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference (ASRC) on Wednesday.

The ASRC was established by the OSCE Ministerial Council in Porto in 2002 to enhance the dialogue on security among the 56 participating States and to review the Organization's security work. Participants will discuss transnational challenges to security in the OSCE region, arms control arrangements, confidence- and security-building measures, as well as early warning, conflict prevention and resolution, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.

The December 2007 OSCE Ministerial Council in Madrid approved a decision to strengthen the Organization's engagement with Afghanistan. The decision puts particular focus on intensifying OSCE action to help secure and manage borders between the OSCE's Central Asian participating States and Afghanistan. It also calls for police training and support of the fight against drug trafficking.

Journalists are invited to cover General Craddock's address at 9.00, on Wednesday, 2 June, in the Hofburg Congress Centre's Neuer Saal.

For admittance to the Hofburg Conference Centre, please bring your OSCE badge or a valid press card to the security desk (main entrance from the Heldenplatz). Parking space is available for the press during the event in the OSCE-reserved parking area on Heldenplatz. Temporary parking permits must be collected from the security desk.