Pia Kauma addresses the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, 8 February 2024 (Photo: Micky Kroell/OSCE)VIENNA, 8 February 2024 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pia Kauma (Finland) is in Vienna today, where she has met with several ambassadors of OSCE participating States and addressed the Permanent Council this morning. In her remarks, she expressed support for the Maltese OSCE Chairpersonship, welcoming in particular the principled engagement shown by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ian Borg and his commitment to collaborative diplomacy.
Looking ahead to next year’s 50th anniversary of the OSCE’s founding document – the 1975 Helsinki Final Act – Kauma said that 1975 marked the beginning of a political journey that continues today. The Helsinki principles, she emphasized, are sacrosanct and non-negotiable, serving as a compass to help achieve the fulfillment of a vision of comprehensive and indivisible security.
“It is therefore imperative that we take every necessary measure to safeguard them across all dimensions of security,” Kauma said. In this regard, she underlined the need to reach agreement on a budget that enables the OSCE to carry out its mandate.
Kauma reported to the Permanent Council on her visit to Kyiv earlier this week, which she noted marked the inaugural activity of the OSCE PA’s Parliamentary Support Team for Ukraine. “This was a significant opportunity to reaffirm the PA’s unwavering support for Ukraine and to engage directly with our colleagues in the Verkhovna Rada to explore how parliamentarians can help pave the way towards the delivery of a just peace answering Ukraine’s aspirations and its sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders,” she said.
President Kauma also highlighted other areas of focus for the Parliamentary Assembly, noting in particular its work on the South Caucasus, South East Europe and Central Asia, as well as migration, combating corruption and countering terrorism. At the OSCE PA’s recent Mediterranean Forum in Yerevan, she noted, parliamentarians debated the escalating security challenges in the Middle East.
US Permanent Representative at the OSCE Michael Carpenter and OSCE PA President Pia Kauma, Vienna, 8 February 2024“There is a collective eagerness to actively contribute to identifying solutions,” Kauma said. “This begs us to find ways to reinvigorate the OSCE’s Mediterranean dimension and to strengthen our co-operation with our Mediterranean Partners.”
Following her address, several OSCE delegations took the floor to respond to President Kauma’s remarks. The PA was praised as a valuable inter-parliamentary forum contributing to building trust and confidence in the OSCE area. Several ambassadors welcomed the PA’s continued focus on Ukraine, with the Ukrainian Permanent Representative noting that the PA can lend a contribution in the context of promoting the ten-point Ukrainian Peace Formula.
While in Vienna, the President held a number of bilateral meetings with OSCE diplomats, stressing the OSCE PA’s openness to engagement with the governmental side of the OSCE, in particular on how to better leverage parliamentary support to Ukraine. She expressed the PA’s dedication to safeguarding the functionality of the OSCE, discussing with her interlocutors how the Parliamentary Assembly can best support efforts to find viable solutions for its leadership challenges and make the organization more effective.
For President Kauma’s full remarks to the OSCE Permanent Council, please click here.
Photos of the visit are available for public use on Flickr.
