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Strengthening and reforming the OSCE, promoting human rights and civil liberties, energy and food security, climate change, freedom of expression, and arms control are some of the issues that will be considered at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 18th Annual Session in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius 29 June to 3 July. Meeting for the first time in a Baltic country, over 250 Members of Parliaments from 49 OSCE countries are expected to participate in the Session, the main theme of which is The OSCE: Addressing New Security Challenges. 

The call for strengthening and reforming the OSCE comes in a resolution with OSCE PA President Joao Soares (Portugal) as principal sponsor. It urges the OSCE participating states to recommit to a genuine and transparent political dialogue, calls on the OSCE Permanent Council to open its meetings to the press and the public, and recommends that the OSCE modify its consensus rule. It also calls for independent external auditors to oversee disbursement and expenditure of all funds within the OSCE. 

The resolution is one of the 22 to be debated, pending approval from the Assembly’s Standing Committee. The other resolutions focus on ways to promote human rights and civil liberties in the OSCE area, energy security and cooperation, labour migration, strengthening OSCE’s engagement in ensuring freedom of opinion and expression, water management, climate change, abolition of the death penalty, Afghanistan, and arms control.    

In addition, two of the Assembly’s main Committees will consider resolutions on financial and social consequences of the global  financial crisis, presented by Ivor Callely (Ireland) and Natalia Karpovich (Russia), respectively. The third Committee will consider a resolution on food security, presented by Riccardo Migliori (Italy).  

The Annual Session will adopt a final document, called the Vilnius Declaration, which will include recommendations on all the issues considered.

Speakers at the Session include:

• H.E. Mr Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania;
• Mr Arunas Valinskas, Speaker of Parliament of Lithuania;
• Mr Joao Soares, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President;
• Ms Dora Bakoyannis, Foreign Minister of Greece, and Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE;
• Mr Lluis De Puig, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe;
• Mr Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, OSCE Secretary General;  

Elections of new Assembly officers will be held. President Joao Soares seeks re-election for the post of the OSCE PA President for a second one-year term. 

The Annual Session in Vilnius is being held at the invitation of the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament. It follows the 2008 Session in Kazakhstan and precedes the 2010 Session in Norway.

The Annual Session will take place on the premises of the Seimas (Parliament) in Vilnius, which is also the host of the Session. It is open to the media.  

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, established by the CSCE Summit in Paris in 1990, is the parliamentary dimension of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The OSCE PA’s primary task is to facilitate inter-parliamentary dialogue, which is an important aspect of the overall effort to meet the challenges of democracy throughout the OSCE area. 

For all the documents, resolutions and other general information on the OSCE PA, see: http://www.oscepa.org/.