Participation of the PABSEC International Secretariat in the OSCE PA Winter Meeting, Vienna, 24-25 February 2022
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly held its 21st Winter Meeting in a hybrid format on 24-25 February 2022.
High-level OSCE officials, including Secretary General Helga Schmid, Chairman-in-Office and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, OSCE PA President Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden), President of the Austrian Parliament Wolfgang Sobotka, and Secretary General Roberto Montella, addressed the meeting.
Mr. Miltiadis Makrygiannis, PABSEC Deputy Secretary General, attended the plenary session in which the theme of the open debate, was “Security Guarantees and the Indivisibility of Security in Europe: Role of the OSCE”. Some 28 parliamentarians took the floor, with most expressing deep concerns about the situation in Ukraine.
Following the open debate, the OSCE PA’s Committee on Political Affairs and Security, chaired by United States Congressman Richard Hudson, discussed the subject “Heightened Tensions in the OSCE Area and the Need for Interparliamentary Dialogue”.
On 25 February, the OSCE PA’s committees on human rights and economic and environmental security debated on human trafficking and the role of journalism in promoting the rule of law.
The committee meetings also provided opportunities for the committee rapporteurs to present their preliminary ideas for reports and draft resolutions being prepared for this year’s Annual Session in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and to hear feedback from OSCE parliamentarians.
Due to the epidemiological situation, the in-person participation in Vienna was restricted to members of the Standing Committee, Special Representatives and Chairs of Ad Hoc Committees. Other OSCE PA Members and observers joined online.