OSCE Secretary General concludes visit to Norway, participates in international seminar on 50th anniversary of Helsinki Final Act hosted by Storting

OSLO, 13 June 2025 — OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu concluded today his first official visit to Norway, where he held meetings with high-level officials and delivered the keynote speech in the international seminar, "Security and Cooperation in a Europe at War — The 50th Anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act”, held at the Norwegian Parliament to mark the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act. 

The Secretary General also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Espen Barth Eide. They discussed Norway’s important role in the OSCE, the future of European security architecture and the Organization’s critical contribution in fostering peace and security across the region.

In his meeting with the State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, Andreas Flåm, discussions focused on the Organization’s role in facilitating co-operation among its participating States and making use of its tools to de-escalate tensions.

“This visit was an opportunity to recognize Norway’s longstanding commitment to the OSCE as an original signatory to the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, and to discuss how to revitalize the spirit of Helsinki to address today’s complex geopolitical challenges,” said the Secretary General.

During his keynote address at the seminar in the Storting, Secretary General Sinirlioğlu spoke of the urgent need to go back to the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and redouble efforts to defend them and challenge those who do not.

“As geopolitical divides deepen, we desperately need a forum for serious multilateral diplomatic engagement. Just like in 1975 at the height of the Cold War and the ‘bipolar disagreement’, we need a place where we can talk. Geography is not going to change. We need to find a way to recover what late Pope Francis called the ‘spirit of Helsinki’,” the Secretary General said.

He also met with the President of the Storting, Masud Gharahkhani, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence of the Norwegian Parliament, Ine Eriksen Søreide, and the Head of the Norwegian Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Siv Mossleth.