OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella (right) and Georgian Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili, Tbilisi, 27 January 2016. (courtesy photo)
TBILISI, 27 January 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Roberto Montella and Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia David Usupashvili today signed an official agreement on Georgia’s hosting of the Assembly’s 2016 Annual Session, to be held in Tbilisi this summer.
“Our upcoming Annual Session will have special resonance, as it will also mark the 25th anniversary of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Preparations are going well and we thank the Georgian Parliament for its strong commitment to making our largest yearly gathering a success. We welcome the Parliament’s support for our tradition of providing a crucial forum for inclusive dialogue on pressing issues and OSCE principles across three continents,” said Secretary General Montella, who signed the agreement on behalf PA President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland).
“The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly brings together delegations from 57 countries, including states from Europe and Asia. We in Georgia will have the opportunity to host this important event, to host the 57 state delegations, and to contribute to the progress and development of the organization,” said Chairman Usupashvili.
The 2016 Annual Session will be held on 1-5 July at Tbilisi’s Expo Georgia Fairground.
The meeting will feature parliamentary debate on critical security topics and is expected to culminate in the adoption by majority vote of the 2016 Tbilisi Declaration. The Declaration will contain the Assembly's wide-ranging policy recommendations for the OSCE and its participating States in the fields of political affairs, economics, the environment, human rights and humanitarian questions.
Approved supplementary resolutions are included in annex to the Declaration before the final document is sent to the foreign ministries of OSCE participating States and made available for presentation in national parliaments.
Recent Annual Sessions have brought together nearly 300 parliamentarians and more than 600 total participants from across the OSCE’s 57 participating States. The Session is open to the media.
Earlier on 27 January, Deputy Head of the Bulgarian Delegation to the OSCE PA Kristian Vigenin and Secretary General Montella met with Chairman Usupashvili, OSCE PA Vice-President George Tsereteli and other members of the Georgian Delegation to the PA for discussions on the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections and a range of domestic and regional issues. The Secretary General and Chairman also toured the venue for the Annual Session.
On 26 January, the OSCE PA delegation held meetings with Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze and members of the NGO community in Tbilisi.
