Parliamentary Assembly President to meet OSCE Chair-in-Office Gilmore in Dublin

COPENHAGEN, 30 January 2012 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou, a leading member of the Greek Parliament, will visit Dublin 1 February for meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore to discuss Ireland’s priorities as chair of the world’s largest regional security organization.

President Efthymiou will be joined in Dublin by former OSCE PA President Joao Soares (Portugal), who recently led the OSCE election observation mission to Kazakhstan, and Secretary General Spencer Oliver.  While in Dublin, the delegation is also scheduled to meet with members of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, and other senior members of parliament and senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

President Efthymiou represents 320 parliamentarians from 55 countries spanning, Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.

Each summer the Assembly votes on resolutions which help shape OSCE and national policy. Several such recent votes have supported the priority issues Gilmore outlined this month in his opening speech of Ireland’s Chairmanship, including protecting Internet freedom, increasing dialogue surrounding ongoing regional conflicts, and combating racism.

The OSCE is known as the gold-standard in election observation. The Parliamentary Assembly delegation is expected to discuss with Gilmore issues related to democratic elections and improving the transparency, accountability and efficiency of the OSCE headquarters in Vienna.

This is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.