Participation of the PABSEC Delegation in the 27th Annual Session of the OSCE PA, Berlin, 7-11 July 2018
During 7 – 11 July 2018, the PABSEC Delegation composed of Mr. Otari Danelia, PABSEC Vice-President and Head of the PABSEC Georgian Delegation, Mr. Ramaz Nikolaishvili, Vice-Chairman of the PABSEC Legal and Political Affairs Committee and Member of the PABSEC Georgian Delegation, and Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General, participated in the 27th Annual Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) held at the premisses of the German Bundestag, in Berlin.
The 2018 OSCE PA Annual Session was held under the theme “Implementing OSCE Commitments: The Role of Parliaments,” and during it nearly 300 parliamentarians from 53 OSCE participating states exchanged their experiences and ideas. The meeting was addressed by Mr. Wolfgang Schäuble, President of the German Bundestag, Mr. George Tsereteli President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Mr. Olaf Scholz, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance of Germany, and Mr. Guglielmo Picchi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, representing the OSCE Italian Chairmanship.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly granted the Observer Status to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, which represents a very important event in the history of the PABSEC and provides wide opportunities to establish cooperation with the OSCE PA as well as with other parliamentary assemblies and international organizations, in the frame of the OSCE PA.
In the course of the OSCE PA plenary session, the PABSEC Delegation participated in the meeting of the Silk Road Group (SRG). Mr. Hajiyev stressed upon the importance of the Black Sea Region for the Silk Road and informed the participants about the PABSEC activities related to this project and underlined the fruitful cooperation between the two Assemblies.
During the plenary session, took place the elections of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly leadership, respectively the Committee’ Officers, the Vice-Presidents and the President. Mr. George Tsereteli was re-elected as the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
At the end, the parliamentarians adopted the Berlin Declaration, which will help to shape policies of national governments, parliaments and the international community in the fields of political affairs, security, economics, environment and human rights.