Bringing together nearly 300 parliamentarians from 54 OSCE participating States, the 25th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly took place 1-5 July 2016 in Tbilisi. The Session was held under the theme "25 Years of Parliamentary Co-operation: Building Trust Through Dialogue," commemorating the quarter-century anniversary of the Assembly's work.

For the final report of the 2016 Annual Session, please click here.

At the close of the Session, the Assembly adopted the Tbilisi Declaration (available in English, French, German, Italian,Russian and Spanish) and elected its new leadership. Austrian parliamentarian Christine Muttonen was elected President for a one-year term, renewable once. Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (Lithuania), Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan), and Isabel Santos (Portugal) were elected to three-year terms as Vice-President, and Victor Dobre (Romania) was elected to a one-year term. 

Committee officers for 2016/2017 include the following:

• General Committee on Political Affairs and Security: Chair Roger Wicker (United States), Vice-Chair Guglielmo Picchi (Italy), Rapporteur Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden)
• General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment: Chair Nilza Sena (Portugal) Vice-Chair Artur Gerasymov (Ukraine), Rapporteur Marietta Tidei (Italy)
• General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions: Chair Ignacio Sanchez Amor (Spain), Vice-Chair Ivana Dobesova (Czech Republic), Rapporteur Kyriakos Kyriakou-Hadjiyanni (Cyprus)

Featuring several days of parliamentary debate in committee and plenary meetings, the Session culminated in adoption by majority vote of the 2016 Tbilisi Declaration. The Declaration contains the Assembly's wide-ranging pronouncements and policy recommendations for the OSCE and its participating States in the fields of political affairs, economics, the environment and human rights, serving as policy guidance to governments and parliaments.

The Session featured speeches by:

• Georgian Speaker of Parliament David Usupashvili
• Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili
• Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili
• OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland)
• OSCE Chairman-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier

The committee reports that served as as the basis for the resolutions are available below. 

For additional information and photos, please visit the Georgian Parliament's Annual Session web page. 

Related articles:

• Christine Muttonen of Austria elected OSCE PA President, Vice-Presidents and Committee Officers also elected (5 July 2016)
• OSCE parliamentarians in Tbilisi adopt wide-ranging Declaration on human rights, security and the environment (5 July 2016)
• OSCE parliamentarians consider resolutions on security, economic and environmental concerns and human rights (2 July 2016)
• Marking 25 years of international dialogue, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Annual Session opens in Tbilisi (1 July 2016)
• OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th Annual Session set to begin in Tbilisi (30 June 2016)
• Crisis of leadership in human rights to be debated at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th Annual Session (16 June 2016)
• OSCE parliamentarians to consider resolution focused on corruption, climate change and migration at Tbilisi Annual Session (14 June 2016)
• Addressing security challenges requires rebuilding trust, says resolution to be considered at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th Annual Session (13 June 2016)

Reports of the General Committees

General Committee on Political Affairs and Security

General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment

 General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions