“One year into the pandemic, we know it has made a heavy and permanent impact on the lives in our countries. Therefore, we should already be discussing how our societies will look like once it is over. It will be another challenge to reorganise our lives, politics and cooperation patterns. We should find the courage to take it as an opportunity to improve the lives of our citizens, to remodel our policies to make them more integrative and effective. It will allow us to strengthen international cooperation and become more resilient to future crises,” said Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz as he opened the seminar.

The panel was also attended by the OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid and the ambassadors of Sweden and Albania as the OSCE Troika countries.

Next speech was delivered by the Director of the Neigbouring Countries Department of European Investment Bank Flavia Palanza, who outlined the general situation in the region related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Next, the floor was taken by representatives of partner countries, who presented the challenges and opportunities of the post-pandemic recovery from the perspective of their countries.

The aim of the meeting was to exchange information on the post-Covid situation in the Mediterranean region and identify common priorities to be pursued by means of the OSCE platform.

On 1 January 2021, Poland took over a year-long chairmanship of the OSCE Mediterranean Partnership for Co-operation. Further meetings under Polish chairmanship will be devoted, among other subjects, to fighting organised crime and using the potential of youths. In the latter half of 2021, Poland will organise the OSCE Mediterranean Conference.

OSCE’s special relations with its Mediterranean partners - Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia date back to 1975 and the Helsinki Accords. Poland’s activity within the Mediterranean Partnership is an introduction to taking the OSCE’s chairmanship in 2022.

 

MFA Press Office

 

photo: Tymon Markowski/ MFA