The 28th OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in the Swedish capital on Thursday and Friday aims to discuss "the security situation in and around the OSCE region, mainly the ongoing assault on Ukraine, and the developments in Belarus and Afghanistan," the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement.
It added that, on the sidelines of the meeting, Rau would hold talks with his counterparts from North Macedonia, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
He is also expected to sit down with the OSCE secretary-general and the head of the organization's parliamentary assembly to discuss Poland’s preparations to take over the rotating presidency of the OSCE next year.
The OSCE Ministerial Council is a key annual event attended by delegates from the organization's 57 participating states and about a dozen partner states, the Polish foreign ministry said.
It noted that the Stockholm meeting informally marked the end of Sweden’s chairmanship of the OSCE in 2021, with Poland set to take over in January.
Poland's Rau said in the summer that ensuring a peaceful resolution to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict would be one of the priorities of Poland’s presidency of the OSCE in 2022.
Rau told a meeting of the Permanent Council of the OSCE in Vienna in July that Poland's efforts would focus on strengthening security, but also on improving the situation of societies affected by conflicts.
Poland will take over the rotating chairmanship of the OSCE from Sweden on January 1, with Rau taking a role as the organization’s Chairperson-in-Office.
This is the second time that Poland will chair the organization, with its previous turn at the helm in 1998.
(gs)
Source: gov.pl