OSCE Chairman-in-Office to address Parliamentary Assembly

COPENHAGEN, 14 June 1999 - The Eighth Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) will meet in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg from 6 to 10 July 1999. The St. Petersburg Session will focus on Common Security and Democracy in the 21st Century.

The 317 members of the Assembly include leading Parliamentarians from 54 participating states. In addition, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Assembly of the Western European Union, the North Atlantic Assembly, the Interparliamentary Union, the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS and the European Parliament all have official observer status in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The area of the OSCE - the only existing pan-European and Trans-Atlantic security organization - stretches from Vladivostok to Vancouver, including all the countries of Europe, the Central Asian Republics, the United States and Canada.

The opening plenary will be held on Tuesday 6 July at 11.00 am. It will be chaired by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Mrs. Helle Degn, Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Danish Parliament. Delegates will also hear welcoming remarks by the Chairman of the State Duma Mr. Gennady Seleznev.

The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE Mr. Knut Vollebæk, Norwegian Foreign Minister, will address the members of the OSCE PA and in accordance with established tradition, answer questions from the floor.

During the meetings on 7, 8 and 9 July the Assembly's Committees will consider three reports and draft resolutions. These reports and resolutions deal with different and interrelated aspects - political, economic and human rights - of the central theme of the Eighth Annual Session: Common Security and Democracy in the 21st Century. Chairman of the Political Committee is Bruce George (MP) of the United Kingdom, who is also Chairman of the House of Commons Defence Committee. Rapporteur is Alcee Hastings (US Congress). The Economic Committee is chaired by Jacques Floch (MP) of France, with Thomas Onken (MP) Switzerland as Rapporteur. Chairman of the Third Committee - on democracy, human rights and humanitarian questions - is Gert Weisskirchen, member of the German Bundestag. Nino Burjanadze (MP) in Georgia is Rapporteur of this Committee.

On Saturday, 10 July the closing Plenary Session will consider the resolutions of the three Committees and adopt a Final Declaration. The Assembly will also elect its President and other Officers.

Attached for your information is a draft programme of the Session and for the purpose of accreditation an application form which should be returned no later than 30 June 1999.