Finland accepts the OSCE chairmanship of 2008 in the Ljubljana meeting
Press release 377/2005
2 December, 2005
The foreign ministers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will convene in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 5-6 December. The Finnish delegation will be chaired by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. The Ministerial Council is supposed to accept the Finnish chairmanship of the OSCE for the year 2008. The chairmanship of the organisation rotates annually between the member states. The Ministerial Troika consists of the current Chairman-in-Office as well as the former and the future chairmen. Next year it will be Belgium chairing the OSCE and in 2007 it will be Spain.
In their addresses at the Ministerial Council the participants are expected to focus on how to increase the effectiveness of the OSCE, as well as on regional questions of current interest, including, for instance, the situation of Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia and Moldova. Also increasing the efficiency of OSCE election monitoring is expected to become one of the main topics.
The Ministerial Council is expected to accept several decisions aiming at developing the OSCE activities in the areas of arms control, economic and environmental dimension, as well as the human dimension. The decisions will include, among other things, the development of election-related commitments, women’s role in conflict prevention, training in human rights issues, action against trafficking in human beings, as well as tolerance and non-discrimination. The Ministerial Council is also supposed to accept a decision concerning strengthening of the organisation's effectiveness in the year 2006.
Additional information: Director Anu Laamanen Ryter, Unit for Civilian Crisis Management, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 40 768 0311, as well as Ambassador Aleksi Härkönen, tel. +43 664 542 1573, and Counsellor Vesa Vasara, Permanent Mission of Finland to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna, tel. +43 664 151 6885, and the Ministerial Council website: www.osce.org/conferences/mc_2005.html(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)