President Tsereteli and SG Montella meet European Parliament officials, highlight importance of OSCE-EU relations and parliamentary diplomacy

STRASBOURG, 24 October 2019 – OSCE PA President George Tsereteli and Secretary General Roberto Montella met yesterday in Strasbourg with Klara Dobrev, Vice President of the European Parliament, and Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister, to discuss OSCE-EU relations as well as common challenges of the European continent. They agreed on the need to enhance co-operation between the OSCE PA and the European Parliament and invest more on joint projects, including on election observation and conflict prevention efforts.

“The European Union and the OSCE share the same values and in times of uncertainty it is critical that we unite our efforts to bring institutions closer to our citizens and citizens closer to institutions,” President Tsereteli said. Noting that all EU Member States are also OSCE participating States, Tsereteli emphasized the importance of the organizations working together to deepen co-operation to address common security challenges.

Vice President Dobrev expressed appreciation for the work of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in promoting dialogue and co-operation on security at all levels of society. Other topics of discussion included the political and security situations in Ukraine, Georgia and South-Eastern Europe.

The OSCE PA delegation held a productive meeting with Chairman McAllister, discussing challenges in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and Turkish military operations in Syria. The sides also discussed ways to enhance the fruitful co-operation between the European Parliament and OSCE PA on election observation. McAllister invited Tsereteli to address the EP Foreign Affairs Committee and in turn Tsereteli invited him to take part in an upcoming OSCE PA statutory meeting.

During a discussion on EU enlargement, the OSCE PA delegation expressed concern over the recent decision of the European Council to postpone the start of accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia. “I hope that despite this decision the European Union will maintain its promise to work towards the integration of the whole South East Europe and grant to those countries the European future they are pursuing,” Secretary General Montella said.

President Tsereteli and Secretary General Montella were also invited to take part in the European Parliament’s plenary session seating. On the margins, they held useful meetings with a number of MEPs from across the region and also met with former members of the OSCE PA leadership, including now Commissioner Christos Stylianides and MEPs Isabel Santos, Ignacio Sanchez Amor, Tonino Picula and Roman Haider.

Their visit to Strasbourg will continue today and tomorrow with the participation in the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament, hosted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where President Tsereteli will address the session on “Our common European home, the next 70 years.”