Tbilisi will host 25th session of OSCE
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Monday, December 21
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has announced that the 25th annual session of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) will be held in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi on July 1-5 next year.
As Garibashvili stressed, the country “has never hosted such an important and large-scale international occasion.”
“Georgia will receive delegations from 57 foreign states. The number of foreign politicians attending the session will reach seven hundred,” Garibashvili said.
The PM stressed that the Government and Parliament of Georgia would work in close coordination to ensure a high-level reception.
The OSCE has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects. It therefore addresses a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, national minorities, the advancement of democracy, policing strategies, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental activities. All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically - but not legally - binding basis, the OSCE webpage reads.
The OSCE Mission to Georgia, established in 1992, assisted the Georgian Government with conflict settlement, advancing democracy, human rights and the rule of law. However, no consensus was reached on the extension of the Mission's mandate in 2008, when Georgia was attacked by Russia.
