The 23rd Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, 28 June - 2 July 2014 at the Fairmont Hotel Congress Centre.
Hosted by the Milli Mejlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan, the Session will be held under the theme "Helsinki +40: Towards Human Security for All." All meetings will take place at the Conference Center of the Fairmont Baku Hotel and are open to the media. Nearly 300 MPs from more than 50 OSCE participating States are expected to attend.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Swiss President and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter, Russian State Duma Chair Sergey Naryshkin and Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Deputy Chair Ruslan Koshulynskyi are all scheduled to speak at opening-day plenaries on Saturday, 28 June.
This year's Annual Session will also feature a special debate on "The Rise of Extremism, Radicalism and Xenophobia: Challenges for the OSCE Region" (Sunday, 29 June at 9:30 GMT), as well as a debate on the situation in Ukraine (Tuesday, 1 July at 10:00 GMT).
The largest event on the Assembly's calendar, the Annual Session will culminate in the adoption of the Baku Declaration, containing policy recommendations to the OSCE and its participating States in the fields of political affairs, security, economics, the environment and human rights. At the close of the Session, the Assembly will hold elections to its Bureau, choosing committee officers and several vice-presidents.
Before the plenary session on Saturday morning took place a meeting of the Standing Committee of the OSCE, which examined the procedural issues and approved the budget for 2014-15s.-06C--
Politics
-
On December 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of his birthday.
-
The U.S. Embassy responded to the host of the "Həftə" ("Week") program, who once again accused the United States of pursuing an anti-Azerbaijani policy, using undiplomatic language.
-
On Monday, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, who is currently on a working visit to Belgrade, was received by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs press service, during the meeting, both sides expressed satisfaction with the "strategic partnership between the two countries" and emphasized the importance of mutual high-level visits.
-
On December 23, a meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Serbia took place in Belgrade. During the final press conference, Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric reported that the discussions focused on the development of tourism. "We are strengthening efforts to open direct air routes, as well as economic development and energy," said Djuric. The minister expressed confidence that cooperation between Serbia and Azerbaijan would become even closer and more intensive in the near future.
Leave a review