Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Summits / Ministerial Councils

Summits are periodic meetings of Heads of State or Government of OSCE participating States that set priorities at the highest political level. During periods between summits, decision-making and governing power lies with the Ministerial Council.

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, formally closes the 18th OSCE Ministerial Council, Vilnius, 7 December 2011.

Vilnius Ministerial Council concludes with decisions to strengthen responses to conflicts and transnational threats, engagement with Afghanistan and other Partner countries

VILNIUS, 7 December 2011 - The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, highlighted the progress achieved at the Vilnius Ministerial Council and urged the 56 OSCE participating States to build on the decisions taken and address the challenges raised at the meeting, which concluded today...

From left: OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis; Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania; Rytis Paulauskas, Head of the Lithuanian Chairmanship Task Force, at the OSCE Ministerial Council, Vilnius, 6 December 2011.

OSCE Ministerial Council opens with call to address transnational threats, protracted conflicts, strengthen engagement with partners

VILNIUS, 6 December 2011 – Ensuring security in the OSCE region requires further efforts to tackle transnational threats, prevent and resolve conflicts, and engage meaningfully with partners in the Mediterranean and Asia, foreign ministers of the 56 OSCE participating States heard at the start of the 18th OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius today...