Poland takes over OSCE Chair
03.01.2022
On the 1st January Poland has started its one-year Chairmanship at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Thus, our country is assuming a greater role in shaping security and stabilisation on the European continent in the spirit of the Helsinki Final Act, whose 50th anniversary we will be celebrating in 2025.
“Poland is taking over the OSCE Chair at a time when the Organization’s participating States have been facing numerous challenges to peace and security. A genuine dialogue between them must be based on international law principles and a strong commitment to existing instruments and tools that OSCE possesses. Our ambition is for the OSCE to operate in the most efficient way possible,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Zbigniew Rau.
The main objective of the Polish chairmanship will be initiatives aiming at settling regional and frozen conflicts through supporting the OSCE’s structures. Poland’s intention is to serve the role of an honest broker and an impartial mediator between all interested parties. The Organization operates by consensus of participating States. Our efforts will focus on making a full use of the OSCE’s potential.
Poland will carry out its tasks in the spirit of the Organization’s holistic approach to security, which implies interdependence of political, military, as well as economic and human rights issues.
During our chairmanship, we will focus on efforts to support civilians in conflict zones. In the economic dimension, we will concentrate on the recovery and modernisation of our economies, seeking to enhance their resilience and better adjust them to new challenges. To achieve a post-pandemic boost, we need to coordinate our actions and direct them back on track to sustainable development.
Minister Zbigniew Rau will officially inaugurate the Polish chairmanship and outline its priorities at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna, on 13 January 2022. Our country will cooperate closely within the framework of the so-called OSCE Troika, that is with the previous and succeeding chairmanships, which are, respectively, Sweden and North Macedonia. The OSCE Ministerial Council will be held in Łódź in December 2022.
Łukasz Jasina
MFA Press Spokesperson