Pia Kauma is congratulated upon being elected President on 4 July 2023.VANCOUVER, 4 July 2023 – Pia Kauma, a Member of Parliament from Finland and former Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, was elected OSCE PA President today at the 30th Annual Session in Vancouver. She has a long-running background in the Assembly, serving as a Member of the Finnish Delegation from 2011-2015, an Alternate Member from 2017-2019, and a Member since 2019.
With an education in economics and business, President Kauma has served in the Finnish Parliament on the Commerce Committee, Social Affairs and Health Committee, Grand Committee, Constitutional Law Committee, and the Environment Committee.
Kauma was elected Rapporteur of the OSCE PA’s General Committee on Political Affairs and Security in 2013 and was elected Vice-President during the OSCE PA Remote Session in July 2021. She was appointed as Special Representative on Central Asia in August 2021 and previously served as Special Representative on Civil Society Engagement.
Upon her election today, she gave an inaugural speech that focused on the need for deeper and more meaningful co-operation, and pledged to work hard over the next year to advance OSCE values. “The OSCE is at a crossroads but I strongly believe that our organization is worth all our efforts,” she said. “Together we are stronger and only together can we solve common challenges.”
(Watch Kauma’s inaugural address here.)
Also elected today were three Vice-Presidents: Daniela De Ridder (Germany), Mykyta Poturaiev (Ukraine), and Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (Cyprus). Johan Büser (Sweden) was elected Treasurer.
Yesterday, the PA’s three general committees elected their leadership for the coming year.
In the Committee on Political Affairs and Security, Richard Hudson (United States) was re-elected Chair, Costel Neculai Dunava (Romania) was re-elected Vice-Chair, and Laurynas Kasciunas (Lithuania) was re-elected Rapporteur.
The Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment re-elected Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan) Chair, Artur Gerasymov (Ukraine) Vice-Chair, and Gudrun Kugler (Austria) Rapporteur.
Three new officers were elected to the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions: Chair Lucie Potůčková (Czech Republic), Vice-Chair Sargis Khandanyan (Armenia), and Rapporteur Malik Ben Achour (Belgium).
Video of the Annual Session is available on the OSCE PA’s YouTube and Facebook channels, and photos of the meeting can be found on Flickr. More information is available on the Assembly’s website.
