VIENNA, 23 April 2020 – For the first time in its history, the OSCE Permanent Council was today held online. Complying with measures and restrictions introduced by the OSCE and the Austrian host authorities in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, delegations of the 57 participating States and 11 Partners for Co-operation held their first meeting via videoconference.

“Despite these exceptional times, we continue to make every effort to continue our work,” said Ambassador Igli Hasani, Chair of the Permanent Council. “The Permanent Council is essential to maintaining political dialogue between OSCE participa

VIENNA, 23 April 2020 – For the first time in its history, the OSCE Permanent Council was today held online. Complying with measures and restrictions introduced by the OSCE and the Austrian host authorities in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, delegations of the 57 participating States and 11 Partners for Co-operation held their first meeting via videoconference.

“Despite these exceptional times, we continue to make every effort to continue our work,” said Ambassador Igli Hasani, Chair of the Permanent Council. “The Permanent Council is essential to maintaining political dialogue between OSCE participating States and steering the important day-to-day work of our Organization in Vienna and throughout our region”.

It is for this reason that the Albanian Chairmanship has doubled its efforts to bring together all participating States, partners and executive structures of the OSCE so that this Organization could continue its work effectively, advancing its common objectives.

Secretary General Thomas Greminger thanked the Chair of the Permanent Council, Albanian Ambassador Hasani, and the participating States for today’s critical meeting. He also added a particular recognition to the ICT and conference services team for making this online session possible. In this light “our staff across the OSCE region continues to work together to deliver their mandates while maintaining duty of care to our staff.”

Today’s discussion focused on the periodic reports by the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Ambassador Halit Çevik, and Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Heidi Grau.

Ambassador Hasani reminded the Permanent Council of the tragic death of the SMM paramedic Joseph Stone on 23 April 2017. “This is a sad and stark reminder of the threats the SMM and other civilians continue to face in eastern Ukraine.”

Meetings of the OSCE Permanent Council will take place online until further notice.