Special Representative on South Caucasus

2010-Joao-SoaresJoao Soares (Portugal) was named the OSCE PA President’s Special Representative on South Caucasus in July 2011. President Petros Efthymiou announced the appointment in the plenary of the 20th Annual Session after consulting with the delegations of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

“Joao Soares has extensive knowledge and personal relationships with important interlocutors in the region.  In addition, he has the necessary diplomatic skills to help bring people of all backgrounds together and focus the needed political attention on the continuing conflicts in the Caucasus. I look forward to his work adding a parliamentary component to ongoing discussions,” President Efthymiou said.

“I am honoured to fill this role to help build stronger bridges between parliamentarians in the area, reinforce ongoing discussions throughout the Caucasus, and do what we can to support the OSCE Minsk Group process to bring about lasting peace in the region,” Mr. Soares said.

Joao Soares, a former President of the Assembly and current Head of Portugal’s Delegation, has traveled extensively in the region, including to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, in the last eight years.

 

Mandate:

  • Follow the overall political situation in the region and seek to promote dialogue in all segments of society, in particular at the parliamentary level, in order to encourage reconciliation and rehabilitation with regard to the protracted conflicts in the region.
  • Consider ways in which confidence-building measures could be introduced in order to create more favourable conditions, conducive to the identification and implementation of political solutions based on the principles and values of international law and OSCE commitments.
  • Work closely with the OSCE Offices in Yerevan and Baku, the Minsk Group, its Co-chairmanship as well as the Chairman-in-Office’s Personal Representative on the Conflict Dealt With by the Minsk Group, and follow the developments in the Geneva Talks.
  • Maintain close contact with and serve as a focal point for the Assembly’s work in the region, provide advice and report back to the President and the Assembly regularly.