Autumn Meetings
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 17th Autumn Meeting took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 3-6 October. Some 300 delegates participated including 160 parliamentarians from 43 OSCE participating States and several Partners for Co-operation.
Please download the final report of the Autumn Meeting here (PDF). Photos of the meeting are available on Flickr. Videos are on YouTube. Documents and related articles can be found below.
Hosted by the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of the Kyrgyz Republic, the 2018 Autumn Meeting included a Parliamentary Conference on “Promoting Security Dialogue in Central Asia and Beyond” and a Mediterranean Forum on “Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Mediterranean: Addressing Migration, Trade and Environmental Challenges.”
Photos from the Andorra Autumn Meeting are available on the Consell General's Flickr page. For the final report on the 2017 Autumn Meeting, please click here.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 16th Autumn Meeting brought together some 180 parliamentarians on 3-5 October 2017 in Andorra for debates on cybersecurity, climate change and the importance of education as a guarantee of stability.
Taking place at the Centre de Congressos d’Andorra la Vella in Andorra and held under the theme “Security in the OSCE Area: New Challenges, New Tasks,” the Autumn Meeting consisted of a Mediterranean Forum, Standing Committee Meeting, and Parliamentary Conference. It was hosted by Andorra's Consell General.
Speaker of the Parliament of Andorra Vicenç Mateu Zamora, OSCE PA President Christine Muttonen and Prime Minister of Andorra Antoni Martí Petit addressed the inaugural session on 3 October.
Some 170 parliamentarians from across the OSCE’s 57 participating States gathered in Skopje from 30 September to 2 October for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 15th Autumn Meeting. Consisting of a Mediterranean Forum, Parliamentary Conference, and meeting of the Standing Committee, the Autumn Meeting provided an opportunity for parliamentarians from across the OSCE region to discuss the theme of “Strengthening Confidence-Building Measures and Good Governance in the OSCE Region,” and the role of parliamentarians in fostering co-operation to address ongoing and emerging crises in the OSCE area.
In her speech to the opening session on 30 September, OSCE PA President Christine Muttonen stressed the need for confidence-building in order to “engage with each other and search for common ground.”
“We must widen our perspective and see the world not only from our national point of view but also through the eyes of our neighbors, partners and even opponents,” she said. “This is how we build confidence and ultimately replace the threat of conflict with long-term stability. This is the only way to effectively address issues such as radicalization, terrorism, the challenge of migration and refugees, or even climate change.”
The 2015 Autumn Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was held on 15-18 September in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The theme for the Meeting was “Addressing security challenges in the OSCE region and beyond: the role of parliamentarians in fostering regional co-operation.”
Parliamentarians from nearly 50 OSCE participating States were in attendance, discussing security issues within the politico-military, environment-economic and democracy-human rights spheres. Hosted by the State Great Hural (Parliament) of Mongolia, the Meeting was the final major gathering of the Assembly in 2015.
Mongolian Parliament Chairman Enkhbold Zandaakhuu and Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia addressed the Assembly during the opening session on 16 September. OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland), members of the Mongolian Delegation to the Assembly and officials from the United Nations and Shanghai Cooperation Organization were among other keynote speakers.
The Meeting also featured a special roundtable on Central Asia with the Heads of OSCE field presences in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Mongolia, the most recent country to become an OSCE participating State, hosted an OSCE PA meeting for the first time.
Some 200 parliamentarians from more than 50 nations gathered in Geneva, Switzerland from 3 to 5 October for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's 13th Autumn Meeting.
In opening the Parliamentary Conference, held under the theme of “New Security Challenges: The Role of Parliaments,” OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) noted that as the link between the OSCE’s governmental side and the people in the OSCE area, the PA is in a unique position to foster public debate and build support for strengthening the Organization in the run-up to the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act.
“The Parliamentary Assembly is the OSCE’s democratic backbone, bringing not only legitimacy to the Organization, but also the OSCE’s values back to our capitals,” he said. “The role of our Assembly – as well as parliaments – has never been clearer as a way to build trust among those we represent.”
Hosted by the Parliament of Montenegro, the 2013 Autumn Meeting concluded with an address by OSCE PA President Ranko Krivokapic. Parliamentarians from across the OSCE area gathered 13-15 October for the meeting in Budva, which included a Mediterranean Forum, a meeting of the OSCE PA's Standing Committee, a meeting of the Bureau, and three sessions of the Parliamentary Conference "Addressing Transnational Threats and Protecting Human Rights: The Role of the OSCE."
Opening the Parliamentary Conference, President Krivokapic noted that Montenegro serves in a unique position to build bridges across the OSCE area. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic highlighted Montenegro as an example of multi-ethnic dialogue.