“OSCE parliamentarians to spare no effort in conveying OSCE pledges and values to parliamentary colleagues to promote and approve laws to implement OSCE commitments and guarantee their effective execution through parliamentary oversight on governments”, says the Berlin Declaration, adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly at its 27th Annual Session. The Declaration urges parliaments to strengthen oversight with regard to OSCE committmens and to renew commitment to the fundamental principles of international law, human rights and the rule of law enshrined in the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. The declaration calls for renewed efforts on resolving the conflicts, with particular emphasis on Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and the Nagorno-Karabakh.
During the Annual Session, OSCE PA President Mr George Tsereteli was re-elected. Mr Peter Bowness (United Kingdom), Ms Kari Henriksen (Norway),Mr Kristian Vigenin (Bulgaria), and Mr Pascal Allizard (France) were elected vice-presidents.
Also, during the five-day session, leadership of committees was elected as well. In the political and security committee Mr Filippo Lombardi (Switzerland) was elected Chair, Ms Sofio Katsarava (Georgia) Vice-Chair, and Mr Alan Farrell (Ireland) Rapporteur. In the economic and environmental committee, Ms Nilza de Sena (Portugal) was elected Chair, Mr Artur Gerasymov (Ukraine) Vice-Chair, and Ms Elona Hoxha Gjebrea (Albania) Rapporteur. In the human rights committee, Ms Margareta Kiener Nellen (Switzerland) was elected Chair, Mr Michael Georg Link (Germany) Vice-Chair, and Mr Kyriakos Kyriakou-Hadjiyianni (Cyprus) Rapporteur.
This year's session of the OSCE PA was marked by a common assessment of the need for stronger political will to ensure full implementation of international obligations arising from the Helsinki Final Act and other OSCE documents.
The meeting included the participation of some 300 parliamentarians from North America, Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, the Berlin session represents a clear manifestation of the importance of parliamentarians in promoting full respect for the OSCE principles, such as sovereign equality, territorial integrity of states, peaceful resolution of disputes, inviolability of borders and human rights.
Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to the OSCE PA was composed of President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Ivan Brajović, and Mr Nikola Rakočević and Ms Aleksandra Vuković.
