PARIS, 2 May 2022 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President and Special Representative for Mediterranean Affairs Pascal Allizard (France) met online 28 April with Ambassador Mordechai Rodgold, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE. The meeting was the last of a series that Allizard has held with the ambassadors and Permanent Representatives of the five other OSCE Mediterranean partner countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan), following the Mediterranean Forum he presided on 4 November 2021. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President and Special Representative for Mediterranean Affairs Pascal Allizard (France)

Meeting on the Holocaust Remembrance Day of Yom HaShoah, Allizard and Rodgold paid tribute to the victims and exchanged views on the security and political situation in Israel after recent terrorist attacks. They focused on the perspectives of peace-building, tension management and resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Then also discussed Israel’s relations with neighbouring countries, especially OSCE Partners for Co-operation, Jordan and Egypt, as well as Morocco, one of the countries that recently normalized their diplomatic relationship with Israel.

Ambassador Rodgold and VP Allizard expressed concern over the current intensification of threats and tensions due to the war waged by Russia in Ukraine, and especially for the humanitarian and food crisis. Both underlined the role of OSCE in order to defuse them, by inciting dialogue as a preliminary step to peace.

They agreed upon the necessity to emphasize the Mediterranean Sea as a common space for security and cooperation. Both share a common view of OSCE PA’s role as a facilitator of co-operation between partners and member countries in this regard.

Their online meeting was concluded by an agreement to see each other in Vienna in the months to come, preparation for the next Mediterranean Forum of OSCE PA. This annual forum is planned during the plenary autumn session of the Assembly, scheduled for October 2022 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Pascal Allizard will contact the Israeli Parliamentary Delegation after the Knesset recess on 8 May.