Minister Zbigniew Rau takes part in OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna
15.07.2021
“As Chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, we will spare no effort in assisting participating States in fostering dialogue while guarding the OSCE’s principles and commitments. Upholding the OSCE’s comprehensive security concept – that of political and economic security, as well as human rights and democracy – will be at the centre of our action,” said Minister Zbigniew Rau speaking at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, where he presented the guidelines of Poland’s 2022 OSCE chairmanship.
Minister Zbigniew Rau visited Vienna on the occasion of Poland’s annual chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe that starts next year. After delivering his address to the Permanent Council, Minister Rau spoke to the OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid.
“We want to contribute to our region’s security and stability. Progress in the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the OSCE area in line with OSCE principles and commitments will be at the heart of our agenda. We also want to focus on supporting victims of conflict and armed conflict,” stressed the chief of Polish diplomacy.
Poland’s second OSCE chairmanship will start on 1 January 2022, with its priorities and programme to be officially presented in Vienna on 13 January 2022.
The OSCE brings together 57 countries. It has its origins in the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in Helsinki in 1975. The formal decision to transform the CSCE into the OSCE was taken at the Budapest Conference in 1994. The OSCE is currently chaired by Sweden. The OSCE’s main objectives include preventing new conflicts and resolving the existing ones, protecting human rights, supporting democratisation and the rule of law, arms control, and fighting smuggling, terrorism and trafficking in human beings in the territories of its participating States. The OSCE cooperates with partners from the Mediterranean and Asia.
Currently, as the future Chair, Poland is leading the work of the OSCE Mediterranean Partnership for Co-operation and is part of the OSCE Troika.
MFA Press Office
Photo: Tymon Markowski / MFA
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