Winter Meeting, Vienna, February 2025

The 24th Winter Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly took place 20-21 February 2025 at the Congress Center Hofburg in Vienna, Austria.

Video of the Winter Meeting is available at YouTube and the OSCE PA’s Facebook page. Photos are available for public use at Flickr. See below for a full programme, as well as press releases and reports issued during the Winter Meeting, and other resources.

VIDEOS

14.00 – 17.00 Standing Committee Meeting, 21 February 2025

09.00 – 12.00 Joint Session of the three General Committees, 21 February 2025

15.15 – 18.00 General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, 20 February 2025

15.15 – 18.00 General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment, 20 February 2025

12.00 – 13.15 Joint Session of the three General Committees, 20 February 2025

09.00 – 11.45 General Committee on Political Affairs and Security, 20 February 2025

PROGRAMME

Thursday, 20 February 2025

09.00 – 11.45 General Committee on Political Affairs and Security (Neuer Saal, second floor)

Opening remarks by Mr. Costel Neculai Dunava (Romania), Vice-Chair of the Committee
Presentation by Mr. Tobias Winkler (Germany), Rapporteur of the Committee, on his ideas and intentions regarding his report for the 32nd Annual Session in Porto (29 June – 3 July 2025)
Presentation by Ambassador Neil Holland, Chairperson of the Security Committee of the OSCE Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the OSCE
Presentation by Ambassador Cristóbal Ramón Valdés, Chairperson of the Forum for Security Co-operation and Permanent Representative of Spain to the OSCE
Presentation by Ambassador Christophe Kamp, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities
Presentation by Ms. Catherine Fearon, Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre
Special Debate: “Nuclear Security, Escalation Risks, and the Protection of Critical Infrastructure in Times of Conflict”
- Introduction by Ambassador Tibor Tóth, Executive Secretary Emeritus of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization

12.00 – 13.15 Joint Session of the three General Committees (Neuer Saal, second floor)

Address by the President of the Austrian National Council, Mr. Walter Rosenkranz
Address by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Ms. Pia Kauma
Address by the Secretary General of the OSCE, Mr. Feridun Sinirlioğlu
Address by the Permanent Representative of Finland to the OSCE, Amb. Vesa Häkkinen, on behalf of the OSCE Chairpersonship
Question & Answer Session

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

Opening remarks by Ms. Lucie Potůčková (Czechia), Chairperson of the Committee
Presentation by Ms. Carina Ödebrink (Sweden), Rapporteur of the Committee, on her ideas and intentions regarding her report for the 32nd Annual Session in Porto (29 June – 3 July 2025)
Presentation by Ms. Maria Telalian, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Presentation by Mr. Jan Braathu, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
Presentation by Ambassador Anna Olsson Vrang, Chairperson of the Human Dimension Committee of the OSCE Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Sweden to the OSCE
Special Debate: New Technologies and Social Media: Effects on Elections
- Mr. Victor Lăpușneanu, Head of Multilateral Cooperation Directorate - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova

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

Opening remarks by Mr. Azay Guliyev, Chairperson of the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment
Presentation by Ms. Paula Cardoso, Rapporteur of the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment
Presentation by Amb. Bakyt Dzhusupov, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities
Presentaiton by Ms. Nataša Zajec Herceg (Slovenia), Minister Plenipotentiary, Deputy Head of Delegation (on behalf of Amb. Melita Župevc, Chairperson of the Economic and Environmental Committee)
Special Debate on Climate Migration in the OSCE Region
- Prof. Patrick Sakdapolrak, Professor of Population Geography & Demography, University of Vienna and Research Scholar in the World Population Program at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
- Mr. Pere Pons, Vice-President of the OSCE PA and Special Representative on Climate Change
- Dr. Daniela De Ridder, Vice-President of the OSCE PA and Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Migration

Friday, 21 February 2025

09.00 – 12.00 Joint Session of the three General Committees (Neuer Saal, second floor)

Reports by Ad Hoc Committees
Remarks by Special Guest, Mr. Vladimir Kara-Murza
General Debate: "Priority Challenges to European Security"

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

MEDIA

Media inquiries may be directed to [email protected].

For information on previous Winter Meetings, please click here.