Ranko Krivokapic delivers inaugural address as OSCE PA president. Six new vice-presidents elected, treasurer re-elected
ISTANBUL, 3 July 2013 – Ranko Krivokapic, Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, today won election as president of the 57-country Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly.
Krivokapic immediately assumes the top elected position of the Assembly for a one-year term.
“With so many global challenges demanding stronger cooperation between all our countries, I look forward to improving dialogue and focusing greater attention on comprehensive security issues as president of the Assembly,” said Krivokapic, who has headed the Montenegrin delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly for ten years.
A nine-time elected parliamentarian, Krivokapic has been president of the Montenegrin Parliament since 2003 and has served previously in the parliaments of Yugoslavia from 1993 to 1997 and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006.
“I am honoured to receive the support of my colleagues,” Krivokapic said upon his election. “Being from a part of the world that has received and continues to receive so much support from the OSCE, as President I intend to give back to this Organization with energy and dedication throughout my term to ensure the Parliamentary Assembly helps to strengthen the OSCE in the field and our shared commitments in our capitals.”
In Montenegro, Krivokapic led the process of writing the declaration of independence and in the 1990s was an anti-war activist and one of the founders of the Democratic Forum, which aimed to establish Montenegro’s multi-party system.
The Assembly elected Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (Lithuania), Isabel Pozuelo (Spain), Alain Neri (France) to three-year terms as vice-presidents. Doris Barnett (Germany) won a vacant two-year term as vice-president. Emin Onen (Turkey) and Ilkka Kanerva (Finland) were elected to one-year vice-presidential terms. Treasurer Roberto Batelli (Slovenia) was re-elected to a third two-year term.
