Thank you, Chair. Madam President, welcome back to the Permanent Council and thank you for your address.
January is a time of new beginnings. Here at the OSCE we have welcomed Finland as our new Chair in Office, and a new Secretary General. But sadly the agenda and the issues we face remain the same. Russia continues to inflict its war on its neighbour, endangering the lives of ordinary citizens and threatening regional peace and stability. We have consistently supported Ukraine and the international community’s efforts to investigate, document, pursue and prosecute those committing war crimes. National parliaments and the Parliamentary Assembly have played an important role in maintaining political commitment in our capitals and promoting OSCE and national support for Ukraine. We look forward to hearing about the outcome of your upcoming visit to Kyiv.
Beyond Ukraine, we cannot neglect other vulnerable regions. Moldova and the South Caucasus remain unstable and we are concerned by the situation in Georgia. The OSCE has a versatile toolbox which could help address the challenges that we are witnessing and support participating States in meeting their OSCE commitments. We must ensure that it is sufficiently resourced and empowered to do that.
Madam President, you also mentioned the Assembly’s work on election monitoring. This observation is an integral part of the democratic process, supporting electoral integrity and documenting whether elections are credible and inclusive. Last year was a bumper year for elections in the OSCE region including in the United Kingdom. We thank the hundreds of parliamentary observers who participated in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s missions and those who will do so in Albania and Moldova in the coming months. This coming together in a collective exercise to strengthen democracy across the OSCE is an important manifestation of our shared commitments.
Madam President, we look forward to marking with you and parliamentarians from across our region the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act this summer and in doing so reinvigorating our commitment to the principles within it. We would like to thank you, Secretary General Montella and the Assembly for the work you are doing. We offer our full support to you and your excellent team and look forward to continued co-operation.
