OSCE Permanent Council to hold special meeting in Vienna

Closed meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the first one in 2022, will be held on January 13 in Vienna, Report informs.

The key topic of the meeting will be the presentation by Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau of the priorities of the Polish chairmanship in the OSCE, which was transferred from January 1 to Warsaw from Sweden, to the attention of the participating states of this regional structure. A special thematic discussion about the ongoing talks between Russia and the US on security guarantees is not expected.

The constituent meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council at the beginning of the year is traditionally devoted to the presentation of the program of the Chairperson -in-Office and the reciprocal statements of representatives of 57 member states of the organization, including Russia and the US, in which they can touch upon certain issues of European security. According to the Polish Chairmanship, Rau will present a program for 2022 with a focus on initiatives to resolve regional and frozen conflicts by supporting regional structures and OSCE institutions, efforts to support civilians in conflict zones and actions to stimulate sustainable development in the OSCE region in the context of recovery from a pandemic.

The OSCE participating states will also be able to make statements regarding Poland’s priorities and their vision of the situation in the region of this organization’s responsibility.

Poland took over the OSCE chairmanship from Sweden on January 1, 2022.