Press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

VIENNA, 17 June 2009 - The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly today. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

OSCE Parliamentarians meet in Vilnius on new security challenges

COPENHAGEN, 17 June 2009 - Strengthening and reforming the OSCE, promoting human rights and civil liberties, energy and food security, climate change, freedom of expression, and arms control are some of the issues that will be considered at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's 18th Annual Session in Lithuania's capital Vilnius 29 June to 3 July. 

Meeting for the first time in a Baltic country, over 250 Members of Parliaments from 49 OSCE countries are expected to participate in the Session, whose main theme is "The OSCE: Addressing New Security Challenges."

The call for strengthening and reforming the OSCE comes in a resolution with OSCE PA President Joao Soares (Portugal) as principal sponsor. It urges the OSCE participating States to recommit to a genuine and transparent political dialogue, calls on the OSCE Permanent Council to open up its meetings to the press and the public, and recommends that the OSCE modifies its consensus rule. It also calls for independent outside auditors to oversee disbursement and expenditure of all funds within the OSCE.

The resolution is one of 22 to be debated, pending approval from the Assembly's Standing Committee. The others include how to promote human rights and civil liberties in the OSCE area, energy security and cooperation, labour migration, how to strengthen OSCE engagement on freedom of opinion and expression, water management, climate change, abolition of the death penalty, Afghanistan, and arms control.

In addition, two of the Assembly's main Committees will consider resolutions about the financial and social consequences of the world's financial crisis, presented by Ivor Callely (Ireland) and Natalia Karpovich (Russia), respectively. The third Committee will consider a resolution on food security, presented by Riccardo Migliori (Italy).

The Annual Session will adopt a final document, called the Vilnius Declaration, which will include recommendations on all considered issues.

Speakers at the Session include:

- Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania;
- Arunas Valinskas, Speaker of Parliament of Lithuania;
- Joao Soares, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President;
- Dora Bakoyannis, Foreign Minister of Greece, and Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE;
- Lluis De Puig, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe;
- Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, OSCE Secretary General;

Elections will be held for new Assembly officers. President Joao Soares seeks a second one-year term as OSCE PA President.

The Annual Session in Vilnius is being held at the invitation of the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament. It follows the 2008 Session in Kazakhstan and precedes the 2010 Session in Norway.

The Annual Session will take place on the premises of the Seimas (Parliament) in Vilnius, which is also the host of the Session. It is open to the public and the media.

Journalists interested in covering the Session should apply for accreditation as soon as possible. Those journalists, who are not already registered with the Lithuanian authorities, should request accreditation by sending an email to Klas Bergman, Director of Communications at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly International Secretariat in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, created by the CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe Summit in Paris in 1990, is the parliamentary dimension of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The OSCE PA's primary task is to facilitate inter-parliamentary dialogue, which is an important aspect of the overall effort to meet the challenges of democracy throughout the OSCE area.

All documents, including applications for accreditation, resolutions and other general information on the OSCE PA, can be found at www.oscepa.org.