Winter Meeting, Vienna, February 2026

The 25th Winter Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will take place 19-20 February 2026 at the Congress Center Hofburg in Vienna, Austria.

REGISTRATION

On Wednesday, 18 February, from 14:00 to 19:00, the Registration Desk will be open in the lobby of the hotel Marriott. On Thursday, 19 February, from 8:00 to 18:00 and Friday, 20 February from 8:00 to 15:00, the Registration Desk will be open in the Security container located at the entrance of the Congress Center Hofburg.

We strongly advise Secretaries of Delegation to register and get the accreditation badges for their delegation on Wednesday, 18 February. Participants may be asked to show some official identification to obtain their badges. Participants are requested to wear their identity badge at all meetings.

For security reasons, participants should also be in possession of some other means of identification and be prepared for identity checks when entering the Hofburg. Loss of identity badges should be reported immediately to the Registration Desk.

PROGRAMME

Thursday, 19 February 2026

08.00 - 08.45 Time reserved for meetings of various groups

08.45 – 10.15 Joint Session of the three General Committees (Neuer Saal, 2 nd floor)

-Address by the President of the Austrian National Council, Mr. Walter Rosenkranz
-Address by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Mr. Ruslan Stefanchuk
-Address by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Mr. Pere Joan Pons
-Address by the Secretary General of the OSCE, Mr. Feridun Sinirlioğlu

10.30 – 13.15 General Committee on Political Affairs and Security (Neuer Saal, 2 nd floor)

-Opening remarks by Rep. Marc Veasey (United States), Chair of the Committee
-Presentation by Ambassador Fatène Benhabylès-Foeth, Chairperson of the Forum for Security Co-operation and Permanent Representative of France to the OSCE
-Presentation by Ambassador Christophe Kamp, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities
-Presentation by Mr. Tobias Winkler (Germany), Rapporteur of the Committee, on his ideas and intentions regarding his report for the 33rd Annual Session in The Hague (4–8 July 2026)
Special Debate: The Fight for Helsinki Principles in Ukraine and Beyond: Grounding Regional Peace in Comprehensive Security
-Introduction by Ms. Kate Fearon, Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre and Deputy Head of the OSCE Secretariat

13.15 – 15.15 Break

15.15 – 18.00 General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions (Neuer Saal, 2 nd floor)

-Opening remarks by Mr. Sargis Khandanyan (Armenia), Chairperson of the Committee
-Presentation by Ms. Carina Ödebrink (Sweden), Rapporteur of the Committee, on her intentions and ideas for her report for the 33rd Annual Session in The Hague (4–8 July 2026)
-Presentation by Ms. Maria Telalian, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
-Presentation by Ambassador Jan Braathu, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
-Presentation by Ambassador Eglantina Gjermeni, Chairperson of the Human Dimension Committee of the OSCE Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Albania to the OSCE
Special Debate: Safeguarding Election Integrity Amid Hybrid Threats and Foreign Malign Influence
-Keynote address by Mr. Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection

15.15 – 18.00 General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment (Ratsaal, 5 th floor)

-Opening remarks by Mr. Azay Guliyev, Chair of the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment
Strengthening a Common OSCE Response to Economic and Environmental Security Challenges
-Ms. Paula Cardoso, Rapporteur of the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment
-Ms. Alja Brinovec Jureša (Slovenia), Assistant Advisor, on behalf of Amb. Melita Župevc, Chairperson of the Economic and Environmental Committee
Special Debate: Geoeconomics, Technology, and Security: Navigating a Changing Landscape
-Dr. Steven Everts, Director of the EU Institute for Security Studies (online)
-Mr. Ryan Fedasiuk, Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (online)
-Mr. Michael Zinkanell, Director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy
-Amb. Bakyt Dzhusupov, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities

Friday, 20 February 2026

08.00 - 08.45 Time reserved for meetings of various groups

08.45 – 12.00 Joint Session of the three General Committees (Neuer Saal, 2 nd floor)

General Debate: “Human Rights as a Basis for Security”
Key introductions by:
- Speaker of the Parliament of Denmark, Mr. Søren Gade
- President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Ms. Petra Bayr

12.00 – 14.00 Break

14.00 – 17.00 Standing Committee Meeting (Neuer Saal, 2nd floor)

GENERAL CONDITIONS OF ACCESS TO THE MEETING ROOMS: Due to space limitations, access to the meeting rooms will be exclusively granted to OSCE Parliamentary Delegations, Parliamentary Delegations of Partners for Cooperation and Official Observers and under the presentation of the proper accreditation badge delivered by the OSCE PA International Secretariat. During the first Joint Session, a viewing room will be organized for the Delegates who will not have access to the Neuer Saal.

REPORTS

Press

The meeting is open to accredited members of the media. To register, or for any other media-related inquiries, please contact Nat Parry, Head of Communications and Press, at [email protected] .

DOCUMENTS

Documents related to the Winter Meeting, including the Standing Committee meeting, are available here. Specific documents for the Standing Committee will be sent electronically to the Heads of Delegations and Secretaries of Delegations. A limited amount of printed material will be available on the tables outside of the meeting rooms in the Hofburg.

LANGUAGES

Simultaneous interpretation into all six OSCE languages (English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish) will be provided during the scheduled times of the various official sessions of the Winter Meeting. It will not be possible to accommodate requests for organizing simultaneous interpretation in any additional languages. No written translation service will be available.

TRANSPORTATION

Participants are responsible for their own transport to and from the airport as well as to and from the Hofburg Conference Center. No transportation will be provided

CATERING

There are limited catering facilities in the Congress Center Hofburg. However, there are numerous restaurants and cafeterias around the Hofburg.

Please check this space for additional details as they become available. You can find session agendas and more related documents here.

For information on previous Winter Meetings, please click here.