Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA)

The founding session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the then Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe was held in Madrid in 1991. The OSCE PA is currently comprised of the Parliaments of the 57 OSCE participating States, while 11 other countries have the status of “Mediterranean” (6) or “Asian Partners for Cooperation”(5). The OSCE PA is the parliamentary wing of the largest regional security organization, with a Euro-Atlantic and a Eurasian dimension. The OSCE PA aims at promoting the Organization's objectives, primarily the OSCE's adaptation to the new international security system, in order to deal with modern challenges, on the basis of its principles of universal and indivisible security.

The House of Representatives is represented in the OSCE PA by a three-member delegation, consisting of Mrs Irene Charalambides, head (AKEL-Left-New Forces), Mr. Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (DISY) and Mr. Christos Senekis (DIKO). In 2019, Mrs. Charalambides was appointed Special Representative for Fighting Corruption by the President of the Assembly. In the same year, Mr. Hadjiyianni was elected Chairman of one of the Assembly’s General Committees, namely the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, of which he had previously been the Rapporteur for three years. In his capacity as Chairman, Mr Hadjiyianni participates in the Bureau of the OSCE PA. Moreover, the said MPs participate in the Standing Committee of the Assembly, in their capacities as head of delegation and member of the Bureau, respectively.

The Cypriot MPs participate in the Annual Sessions of the Assembly (July), the Winter Meetings (February), which are preparatory meetings held ahead of the Annual Sessions, as well as in the Autumn Meetings (October), during which conferences on issues of particular concern for the OSCE PA, as well as the Mediterranean Forum of the OSCE PA, take place. In the framework of these activities, they participate in joint and separate sessions of the Assembly’s three General Committees - Committee on Political Affairs and Security, Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and the Environment and Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions.

The members of the Cyprus delegation actively participate in the discussions held at the level of the Committees and the Plenary, making particular reference to the Cyprus problem and the Turkish illegal actions within Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone, as well as to other issues of special interest to Cyprus but also of general interest. They also contribute to the drafting of the Final Declaration of each Annual Session, which consists of the resolutions of the three General Committees and additional resolutions on issues of interest to the OSCE PA. In addition to Mr. Hadjiyianni’s reports and related resolutions, while he served as a Rapporteur of the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, the said two Members of Parliament also submitted, on separate occasions, their own resolutions, which were adopted by the Assembly and were included in Final Declarations (Luxembourg 2019, Helsinki 2015). The members of the Cyprus delegation also submit amendments to the resolutions of the three Committees and to resolutions submitted by Members of Parliament of other delegations, thus further enhancing cooperation between the House of Representatives and Parliaments of other countries. Moreover, the members of the Cyprus delegation take part, from time to time, in OSCE PA election monitoring missions, as well as in various other thematic conferences and seminars, while the two Cypriot Officials of the Assembly are also carrying out other activities within their respective mandates.

OSCE PA website: www.oscepa.org