OSCE Chairperson-in-Office discussed priorities and current developments with U.S. Helsinki Commission

WASHINGTON, D.C., 11 June 2021 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde, participated in a congressional hearing with the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission) today.

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, monitors the compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advancing comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental, and military cooperation in the OSCE-region.

Linde discussed the main priorities of the 2021 Swedish OSCE Chairpersonship and current developments across the OSCE. She emphasised the importance of returning to the fundamental norms and principles on which the OSCE was founded, to which all participating States have committed and re-committed – in Helsinki in 1975, Paris in 1990, Istanbul in 1999 and Astana in 2010.

“Safeguarding these commitments, on which the European security order rests, is my first priority as Chairperson-in-Office. But it is our common task to ensure that principles such as respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, the duty to refrain from the threat or use of force, and every country’s right to choose its own security arrangements, are respected”, she stated.

Closely linked with the mandate of the commission is the Swedish Chair´s priority to safeguard and promote the organisation’s unique concept of comprehensive security.

“This concept has human rights, democracy and the rule of law at its core. There is a clear link between freedom within States and security between States”, Chairperson Linde stated.