The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is holding its 20th Winter Meeting in an online format on 24-26 February, with some 270 parliamentarians expected, as well as high-level representatives of governments and the OSCE. The meeting begins with the Standing Committee on Wednesday and continues with the opening joint session on Thursday and general committee meetings Thursday and Friday.
The opening session will feature keynote addresses by President of the Austrian National Council Wolfgang Sobotka, OSCE PA President Peter Lord Bowness, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Foreign Minister of Sweden Ann Linde, and OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid.
The three OSCE PA general committees will discuss issues such as how to reinforce multilateralism, protracted conflicts, the crisis in and around Ukraine, building economic and environmental security amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of the pandemic on democracy and elections.
The meeting will be live streaming on YouTube, as well as on this page. Members of the media are invited to follow the event online. A general programme is available below and more information is available at the Winter Meeting web page.
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Joint Session of the General Committees
25 February, 13:30-15:30 CET (online)
Address by the President of the Austrian National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka
Address by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Peter Lord Bowness
Address by the Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE and Foreign Minister of Sweden, Ann Linde
Address by the Secretary General of the OSCE, Helga Schmid
General Committee on Political Affairs and Security
25 February, 16:00-18:00 CET (online)
Opening remarks by Richard Hudson (United States), Chair of the Committee
Presentation by Laurynas Kasciunas (Lithuania), Rapporteur of the Committee
Presentation by Ambassador Neil Bush, Chair of the Security Committee of the OSCE Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the OSCE
Presentation by Ambassador Philip T. Reeker, Acting Assistant US Secretary of State, US Chairmanship of the Forum for Security Co-operation
Presentation by Ambassador Kairat Abdrakhmanov, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM)
Presentation by Ambassador Yasar Halit Cevik, Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine
General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment
26 February, 13:30-15:30 CET (online)
Opening remarks by Doris Barnett, Chair of the Committee
Presentation by Elona Hoxha, Rapporteur of the Committee
Presentation by Ambassador Florian Raunig, Chairperson of the Economic and Environmental Committee, Permanent Representative of Austria to the OSCE
Presentation by Ambassador Vuk Žugić, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities
General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions
26 February, 16:00-18:00 CET (online)
Opening remarks by Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (Cyprus), Chair of the Committee
Kari Henriksen (Norway), OSCE PA Vice-President, Rapporteur of the Committee
Presentation by Ambassador Ms. Anne-Kirsti Karlsen, Chairperson of the Human Dimension Committee of the OSCE Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Norway to the OSCE
Presentation by Matteo Mecacci, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Presentation by Teresa Ribeiro, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
Report by Margareta Cederfelt on OSCE PA election observation in Montenegro, 30 August 2020
Report by Elona Hoxha on OSCE PA election observation in Georgia, 31 October 2020
Report by Michael Georg Link on OSCE PA election observation the United States of America, 3 November 2020
Report by Kristian Vigenin on OSCE PA election observation in Kazakhstan, 10 January 2021
Report by Peter Juel-Jensen on OSCE PA election observation in Kyrgyzstan, 10 January 2021
More information about the Winter Meeting is available here. Follow the meeting on Twitter with the hashtag #OSCEPA.
