OSCE PA’s Skopje Autumn Meeting to explore ways of strengthening good governance and confidence-building measures

COPENHAGEN, 23 September 2016 – In one week, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 15th Autumn Meeting will open in Skopje with addresses by host officials including Speaker of Parliament Trajko Veljanoski and Vice-President Renata Deskoska. The opening session will also feature remarks by OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) and a special address by Mevlut Cavusoglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, followed by a debate.

Some 200 members of parliament from 50 countries will gather from 30 September to 2 October to debate issues under the theme “Strengthening Confidence-Building Measures and Good Governance in the OSCE Region.” Topics of discussion will include crises impacting the OSCE area such as migration, the situation in Turkey following the attempted coup of 15 July, the crisis in and around Ukraine, the progress and ongoing challenges facing South East Europe, and specific issues related to the Mediterranean region.

Session two of the parliamentary conference, taking place 1 October, will feature a roundtable event with representatives from all six OSCE field operations in South East Europe, who will discuss issues related to the theme “Developing Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in South East Europe: The Role of the OSCE.” The third session will be held under the theme “Improving Human Rights-Based Governance of International Migration.”

Speakers during the three-day meeting will include:

• Lamberto Zannier, OSCE Secretary General
• Halil Yurdakul Yigitguden, OSCE Economic and Environmental Coordinator
• Antonijo Miloshoski, Vice-President of the Parliament and Chair of the Foreign Policy Committee
• Oliver Spasovski, Minister of Internal Affairs
• Filippo Lombardi, Chair of the OSCE PA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Migration
• Vladimir Gligorov, Professor at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies

All sessions of the Autumn Meeting will take place at the Hotel Holiday Inn in Skopje. The Autumn Meeting is open to credentialed members of the media.

Follow the meeting on social media using the hashtag #OSCEPASkopje. Photos will be available on the OSCE PA’s Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oscepa/ 

For more information, please visit http://www.oscepa.org/meetings/autumn-meetings/2016-skopje or the host parliament’s site: http://www.sobranie.mk/osce-pa-14th-autumn-meeting-skopje-republic-of-macedonia-1.nspx 

Media contact:

Loic Poulain, Programme Officer, OSCE PA, +45 6010 8963, email: loic@oscepa.dk