STOCKHOLM, 10 February 2021 —
OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid concluded yesterday a two-day
visit to Sweden for discussions with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and
Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde.
“The Minister and I have already
been working closely since Sweden’s tenure as Chair began in January, and I am
pleased to have such a strong advocate for multilateralism leading the OSCE
this year,” Schmid said. “As my first country visit as OSCE Secretary General,
it underscores the importance I place on supporting the OSCE Chair in their
efforts to build security throughout the OSCE region.”
The Secretary General’s talks
addressed how to work together to support the Chair’s priorities across the
OSCE comprehensive security agenda, as well as how to ensure the Organization
has the resources it needs, and uses them effectively.
Discussions included ways in which
the Chair and Secretariat can support efforts to address and resolve the
ongoing conflicts and crises in the OSCE area, including concrete steps to
improve the situation of people affected by conflicts. They highlighted
how working effectively across the OSCE agenda and structures, including in
addressing transnational threats, is important to support sustainable progress.
Linde and Schmid agreed that
further engaging civil society and youth and advancing gender equality,
particularly the women, peace and security agenda and women’s economic
empowerment, is essential to comprehensively building security. Schmid also met
members of the Swedish Women’s Mediation Network to discuss how to strengthen
women’s roles in peace processes in practice and to support the role of women
mediator networks.
The Secretary General met the Head
of the Swedish Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Johan Büser, and
Deputy Head of the Swedish Delegation and Vice President of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly, Margareta Cederfelt. They agreed on the value of
strengthening cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly and parliamentarians
across the OSCE agenda.
Reflecting on the Secretary
General’s visit, Chairperson-in-Office Linde said, “The Secretary General and I
have had fruitful discussions in Stockholm on how we can continue to
collaborate in addressing security challenges in the region and supporting
participating States throughout 2021. In these challenging times, it is crucial
that the OSCE continues to deliver political accountability and contributes to
conflict resolution in line with the commitments that all participating States
have agreed to.”
For further information visit : https://www.osce.org/secretary-general/477853
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