OSCE PA’s Helsinki +40 Project Results

Participants at a seminar organized by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) on 5 July 2015 in Helsinki discussed the conclusions of the OSCE PA’s Helsinki +40 Project and its Final Report, “Building the OSCE of the Future.” Opened by OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva, Co-Chair of the Helsinki +40 Project, the seminar included remarks by PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver, Special Co-ordinator of the Helsinki Project, and long-time Finnish Diplomat Ambassador Jaakko Iloiemi, who has been involved in the Helsinki process since the 1970s.

In his opening remarks, Kanerva discussed some of the findings of the Project, which consisted of five seminars held from Sept. 2014 to May 2015. “Our Helsinki +40 seminars have demonstrated a general agreement among participants that the OSCE must continue to be a bridge between East and West, but that in doing so, it must also renew its focus on adherence to its core principles and commitments – particularly in the areas of territorial integrity and human rights,” he said.

Learn more on the OSCE PA website.