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- Ελληνικά
The Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Ms Irini Charalambidou, held a meeting in Vienna yesterday in her capacity as Special Representative of the Assembly on Combating Corruption with delegations from Central Asian states, in particular Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
At the meeting, Ms Charalambidou referred to the work she has done over the last five years to promote the exchange of good practices between parliaments on the issue of fighting corruption and promoting transparency and accountability. She noted that she attached particular importance to building cooperative relations with international organisations active in this field.
Ms Charalambidou acknowledged the need to strengthen the OSCE CSO's engagement with the Central Asian region, both in the area of anti-corruption and more generally. She proposed in this context the organisation of a relevant seminar in the region involving members of the OSCE CSO delegations from Central Asian countries, representatives of OSCE field missions in these countries, representatives of international organisations and representatives of domestic anti-corruption authorities.
The delegations of the Central Asian countries expressed their support for the organization of the seminar and, more broadly, their support for Ms. Charalambidou's efforts to maintain the fight against corruption as a priority area for the OSCE CSO.
Moreover, in her intervention at a Joint Session of the three OSCE CSO General Committees, Ms. Charalambidou said that the war between Israel and Hamas continues to threaten the entire Middle East. The humanitarian situation in Gaza, she stressed, underlines the urgent need to protect civilians. At the same time, she said, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages is an urgent need. Ms. Charalambidou stressed that the prevention of further escalation and expansion of the crisis in the Middle East must be avoided and argued that only the prospect of the revival of the peace process in the Middle East can pave the way for lasting peace and stability in the region.
Referring to the attacks of the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, Ms. Charalambidou stressed that they have caused significant disruptions to world trade, and welcomed in this context the decision of the EU Foreign Affairs Council to launch an operation to restore freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
In this context of rising geopolitical tensions, Ms. Charalambidou noted, the OSCE must do more to promote dialogue, because without dialogue there can be no diplomacy and without diplomacy there can be no peace. Recalling that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion, Ms. Charalambidou expressed hope that the appointment of a Personal Envoy for the Cyprus problem by the UN Secretary General can give new impetus to the continuation of negotiations aimed at finding a solution to the Cyprus problem and wished all parties involved to engage constructively in order to make substantial progress. In this context, he said that the decision of the Greek Government to grant on-the-spot visas to Turkish citizens visiting certain Greek islands for a short period of time is an encouraging development.
Finally, with regard to Ukraine, Ms Charalambidou criticised the amendment of the martial law by the President of the country, in a way that prevents elected MPs, including a member of the OSCE JCC, from travelling outside the country to exercise their obligations arising from their participation in international organisations. He also signed a letter of protest to this effect from the members of the Ukrainian delegation to the OSCE CSO.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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