The 22nd Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) opened this morning in Belgrade, capital of Serbia. Some 40 Foreign Affairs Ministers and a number of high-level diplomats from across the OSCE region, gathered at the Kombank Arena, in Belgrade, at the invitation of the 2015 OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić.
In his opening remarks the Prime Minister of Serbia, Alexander Vucic, urged participants to work together to strengthen the principles of the Helsinki Final Act.
The Ministerial Council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE. The meeting, held annually, provides foreign ministers and more than 70 delegations of OSCE participating States, partner countries and several international organizations an opportunity to review and assess the Organization's activities during the past year and offer national viewpoints on security matters.
The foreign ministers will discuss the crisis in and around Ukraine, migration, terrorism and other common challenges within and beyond the OSCE area, as well as ways to rebuild consensus on European security as a common project. The Council will set the course for the future work of the organization with Germany taking up the Chairmanship from 1 January 2016.
source: commonspace.eu with osce.org
photo: The Foreign Ministers of OSCE member states and partner countries before the opening ceremony of the 22 Ministerial Council of the organisation opened in Belgrade on Thursday, 3 December 2015. (picture courtesy of osce.org).
