Speeches expected from OSCE officials, speakers of parliaments and high-level representatives of Luxembourg

COPENHAGEN, 17 June 2019 – Members of the media are invited to attend the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 28th Annual Session, taking place in Luxembourg on 4-8 July 2019. (Register here.)

The largest event on the Assembly’s calendar, the 2019 Annual Session will be held under the theme “Advancing Sustainable Development to Promote Security: The Role of Parliaments.” Following several days of intense debate and committee work, the Annual Session will culminate in the adoption on 8 July of the Luxembourg Declaration, containing recommendations to national governments, parliaments and the international community in the fields of political affairs, security, economics, environment, human rights and humanitarian questions. 

Speakers at the event will include:

• Fernand Etgen, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg
• George Tsereteli, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
• Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg
• Steny Hoyer, United States House Majority Leader and Founding Member of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
• Liliane Maury Pasquier, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• Miroslav Lajcak, Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia
• Ambassador Thomas Greminger, Secretary General of the OSCE
• Roberto Montella, Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

A number of Speakers of National Parliaments from across the OSCE area will also address the Annual Session on 7 July. Topics on the agenda of the five-day meeting include:

• migration governance and promoting dignified return policies
• terrorism and challenges related to returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters
• the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the Russian militarization of Crimea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov
• the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and prospects for arms control
• the security implications of Brexit
• climate change
• combating corruption and promoting good governance
• reasserting human rights in an era of populism and nationalism
• protecting children in conflict zones
• educating schoolchildren to avoid human trafficking
• religious tolerance, combating xenophobia and aggressive nationalism
• energy security
• governance of private military and security companies
• the security and human rights situation in Abkhazia, Georgia and the Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, Georgia

The Annual Session will also include a meeting of the Assembly’s Standing Committee, reports on recent OSCE election observation missions, numerous bilateral meetings and side events, and elections of Assembly officers, including the OSCE PA President, Vice-Presidents and committee officers.

For additional information, including programmes, committee reports and draft resolutions, please visit the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s website.