BAKU, FEB 01 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will hold its 19th Winter Meeting at the Hofburg Congress Centre in Vienna on 20-21 February 2020.

The press service of the OSCE PA, that nearly 300 parliamentarians are foreseen to attend, as well as high-level representatives of governments, international organizations, and the OSCE.

The opening session will feature keynote addresses by the President of the Austrian National Council Wolfgang Sobotka, as well as OSCE PA President George Tsereteli, the OSCE Albanian Chairmanship, and the OSCE Secretary-General.

The three OSCE PA general committees will hear from relevant experts, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Heads of OSCE Institutions, and government representatives of OSCE countries. Members will discuss issues such as how to efficiently leverage the tools and mechanisms of the OSCE to resolve protracted conflicts; the security implications of climate change; and multilateral human rights co-operation.

The closing joint session of the three general committees will include a special debate on combatting anti-Semitism, discrimination and intolerance in the OSCE region. The session will also feature reports by leaders of recent election observation missions to Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, followed by discussions.