OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Annual Session to mark Organization’s founding in Helsinki birthplace

COPENHAGEN, 23 June 2015 – Nearly 300 lawmakers from more than 50 states in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe will return to the OSCE’s Finnish birthplace next month to mark the 40th anniversary of the Organization’s founding and address some of today’s most pressing security issues at the 2015 Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The Session, which runs 5-9 July, will be hosted by the Parliament of Finland in historic Finlandia Hall, the site of the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in 1975. 

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic will be among the keynote speakers at the Session, which will be held under the theme "Recalling the Spirit of Helsinki."

OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva of Finland and several speakers of national parliaments will be in attendance at the Assembly’s largest annual meeting.

The Session will feature debate and decision-making on a wide range of issues of concern to the OSCE area and the international community, including the situation in and around Ukraine, the refugee and migrant crisis in the Mediterranean and larger OSCE area, terrorism, arms control, climate change, pressure on civil society and much more. 

It will culminate in the adoption by majority vote of the 2015 Helsinki Declaration, which will contain the Assembly's wide-ranging policy recommendations for the OSCE and its participating States in the fields of political affairs, economics, the environment and human rights.

Principal resolutions from each of the Assembly’s three General Committees, as well as valid additional items, will be discussed, amended if necessary, and approved in their final form through voting before they are combined into the Declaration and annexes. The Declaration will then be sent to the foreign ministers of OSCE participating States and presented in national parliaments.

The Session will also feature the presentation of final results of the OSCE PA's Helsinki +40 Project, which has marked the milestone anniversary with seminars throughout 2014 and 2015 aimed at inspiring Organizational reform. The Project has been led by former OSCE PA President Joao Soares (MP, Portugal) and OSCE PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver of the United States.

In Helsinki, the Assembly will hold elections during the Session for the posts of President, several Vice-Presidents, Treasurer and Committee Officers. The Assembly’s Standing Committee will vote on the Bureau’s recommended candidate for the post of Secretary General, with a term beginning in 2016. 

Draft Resolutions, updated programmes and practical information about the Annual Session are now available at: http://www.oscepa.org/meetings/annual-sessions/2015-annual-session-helsinki

The Session is open to accredited members of the media. Journalists interested in attending should send their name, affiliation and contact details to OSCE PA Director of Communications Richard Solash at richard@oscepa.dk.

The Session will be live-streamed on the OSCE PA homepage, www.oscepa.org.

Please also follow news about the Session on Twitter using the hashtag #PAHelsinki15.