The President of the Swiss Confederation, Didier Burkhalter, stresses importance of ensuring the OSCE's continued ability to act

The President of the Swiss Confederation, Didier Burkhalter, condemns the attack on members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine, in which shots were fired at a mission vehicle on 26 November 2014. A rocket-propelled grenade was also fired at the vehicle during the incident. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office called on all sides to guarantee the safety and freedom of movement of the SMM in Ukraine. Speaking at this year's meeting between the foreign ministers of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein in Berlin, the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said that the crisis in Ukraine could only be resolved through dialogue. He called for strict observance of the ceasefire agreed with the support of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, saying that the ongoing role of the OSCE in the search for a political solution to the Ukraine conflict would remain a priority for Switzerland after the Swiss Chairmanship of the OSCE had ended. President Burkhalter welcomed the decision of the OSCE Permanent Council to award the OSCE chairmanship to Germany in 2016 and Austria in 2017. Together with Serbia, which will hold the chairmanship in 2015 and with which Switzerland has developed a joint working plan, the Permanent Council's decision would provide the security needed to plan the organisation's work, President Burkhalter said. The Permanent Council's decision still has to be formally confirmed by the Ministerial Council at its meeting in Basel on 4-5 December 2014.

Other issues discussed at the meeting between the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Austria's minister for European and international affairs, Sebastian Kurz, the Liechtenstein minister of foreign affairs, education and culture, Aurelia Frick, and the head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and President of the Swiss Confederation, Didier Burkhalter, were the situation in Syria, Iraq and the Kurdish areas, how to deal with foreign terrorist fighters returning from conflict zones, and cooperation among the four states within the UN.

President Burkhalter invited the foreign ministers of Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein to the next meeting, which will be held in Neuchâtel in 2015.

Further information:

OSCE Chairmanship 2014

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