WASHINGTON—The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following staff-led briefing:
ALBANIA’S LEADERSHIP IN EUROPE
Parliamentary Perspectives of the Albanian OSCE Chairmanship in 2020
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
2:00 p.m.
Rayburn House Office Building
ROOM CHANGE: NOW ROOM 2200
Live Webcast: www.facebook.com/HelsinkiCommission
Each year, one participating State of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is selected by the others to chair the 57-member organization.
Since the role of OSCE “Chair-in-Office” was inaugurated in 1991, the organization has responded to numerous conflicts and crises in the Western Balkans. As the holder of the 2020 Chairmanship, Albania now seeks make its own contribution to security and cooperation in Europe as a whole. However, leading an organization that requires consensus-based decision-making is a difficult task, especially as the OSCE confronts significant security, economic, human rights, and democratic challenges including Russia’s aggression, ongoing regional conflicts, resistance to democratic reforms, and serious democratic backsliding in some OSCE countries.
Taking place less than a week after the 2019 OSCE Ministerial in Bratislava, the culmination of the 2019 Slovak chairmanship, this Helsinki Commission briefing will take a close look at Albania’s interest in chairing the OSCE and how that task may impact Albania in 2020. The panelists, each a member of Albania’s delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), will provide a parliamentary perspective ahead of a hearing in early 2020 that will feature the Chair-in-Office and focus more specifically on the priorities and objectives of the Albanian chairmanship.
Panelists scheduled to participate include:
- Ditmir Bushati, Member of Parliament from the ruling Socialist Party; head of the Albanian Delegation to the OSCE PA
- Elona Hoxha Gjebrea, Member of Parliament from the ruling Socialist Party; member of the Albanian Delegation to the OSCE PA
- Rudina Hajdari, Member of Parliament from the opposition Democratic Party; member of the Albanian Delegation to the OSCE PA