SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MORATINOS TO TESTIFY BEFORE HELSINKI COMMISSION
(Washington, DC) Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) and Co-Chairman Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), will hold a hearing entitled, “Spain’s Leadership of the OSCE,”on Monday, October 29 at 4:00 p.m. in room 1539 of the Longworth House Office Building. Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Angel Moratinos, will testify before the Helsinki Commission in his capacity as Chairman-in-Office of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The hearing will focus on the simmering tensions with Russia in the lead up to critical parliamentary and presidential elections; a possible expanded role for the OSCE in Kosovo; prospects for OSCE involvement in Afghanistan; and engagement with the countries of Central Asia, including Kazakhstan’s aspiration to chair the organization in the future.
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, is a U.S. Government agency that monitors progress in the implementation of the provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords. The Commission consists of nine members from the United States Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.
