OSCE Parliamentary Assembly expresses support to Ukraine

TALLINN - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) held its annual session in Vienna, Austria, where three questions of urgency were adopted, one of which was a statement in support of Ukraine, the activities of the PA during the last year were discussed and a new president was elected.

Head of the Estonian delegation Mati Raidma said that the adoption of the resolution condemning the destabilizing military build-up by the Russian Federation near Ukraine and in temporarily occupied Crimea was a strong statement in support of Ukraine.

"It is good that support was expressed to regional security and Ukraine’s efforts to restore its territorial integrity in internationally recognized borders," Raidma said. According to him, the sharpness of discussions is illustrated by the fact that the delegation of the Russian Federation did not accept the decision and left the OSCE PA session in Vienna after it was voted on.

Two more items of urgency were adopted at the session. On the initiative of the Netherlands, the resolution "The general approach to dissent in Belarus" was adopted, and the United States initiated the item "Addressing the Rise in Hate, Intolerance, Violence and Discrimination across the OSCE Region".

At the annual session, deputy Head of the Swedish delegation Margareta Cederfelt was elected the president of the OSCE PA.  

The annual session, which was held in hybrid format from June 30 to July 6, was also attended by members of the Estonian delegation Heljo Pikhof and Marko Sorin.

The aim of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is to increase the involvement of its member countries in resolving European political and security issues and to strengthen the responsibility and influence of members of parliament.