More than 250 parliamentarians from 55 countries are expected to participate in the annual Vienna meeting, including several from the OSCE Mediterranean Partners. The Committee on Political Affairs and Security (First Committee) meeting will include a discussion on Kyrgyzstan, including comments from Mr. Kimmo Kijunen (Finland), the OSCE PA’s Special Representative for Central Asia, who led the International Independent Commission for Inquiry into last June’s interethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan.

The Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions (Third Committee) will host a discussion on the situation in Belarus, where the OSCE Mission was closed down after last December’s presidential elections. Others addressing the meeting include: OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, Speaker Barbara Prammer of the Austrian Parliament, and recently appointed OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender Issues, Dr. Hedy Fry (Canada).