Miroslav Lajčák (source: Branislav Bibel, SITA)
Bratislava is hosting foreign ministers of the 57 OSCE countries and 11 partner states today and tomorrow.
They will convene for the Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), where Slovakia wraps up its presidency over the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE.
Representatives of the assembly met in Bratislava on December 4 and appreciated Slovakia's presidency in terms of practicality. They highlighted the working groups and formats that emerged for the purpose of exchanging knowledge between OSCE as well as other international organisations and platforms, TASR wrote.
Slovakia was the first country that implemented an agreement on the cooperation between the OSCE and the EU during its presidency, TASR noted.
Lajčák: It's time to resolve the conflict in Ukraine
As his last visit in the capacity of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovakia's president Miroslav Lajčák travelled to the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine on November 29. He highlighted the role of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission.
"The monitors act as our eyes and ears, as they comprise the most relevant international presence currently on the ground. Without them here, things would be much worse – and they need our support,” he said as quoted by the Ukrinform website.
Lajčák also stressed the need to see more positive steps to make daily life easier for the people in the east of Ukraine, including the opening of more crossing points.
“I do not have to remind anyone that this conflict has been going on for more than five years now. It is time to finally resolve it,” he concluded.
