Pere Joan Pons addresses the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, 22 January 2026 (Photo: Micky Kröll)VIENNA, 22 January 2026 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pere Joan Pons (Spain) today addressed the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, declaring that Europe stands at a critical turning point where security is under severe strain from ongoing aggression, threats to sovereignty, and challenges to the rules-based international order.

In his remarks, President Pons congratulated Switzerland on assuming the 2026 OSCE Chairpersonship and reaffirmed the Assembly’s commitment to close co-operation to strengthen trust and dialogue, stressing the need for unity of purpose – not merely words – to defend shared principles without double standards.

He reaffirmed the Assembly’s support for unambiguous condemnation of aggression against Ukraine, participation in the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, calls for the release of detained OSCE officials, and condemnation of atrocities wherever they occur, including in Gaza. He also highlighted the pressure being exerted on Denmark for the acquisition of Greenland as unacceptable.

“This is not strength. This is intimidation,” Pons declared. “Threats of annexation, threats of purchase, threats of economic retaliation have no place in Europe in the 21st century.”

The President explicitly noted that any government engaging in threats or retaliation through political or economic means acts contrary to the Helsinki Final Act and the UN Charter. “These principles are not optional,” he underlined. “They are the foundations of our security in the whole OSCE region.”

Drawing from his visit earlier this week to Copenhagen, where he met with the Speaker of the Danish Parliament and other parliamentarians, Pons conveyed Denmark’s clear message: a desire for dialogue and stronger alliances in the Arctic, while firmly asserting that Greenland is not for sale.

Permanent Representative of Kyrgyzstan to the OSCE Nurzhan Shaildabekova and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pere Joan Pons in Vienna, 22 Jan. 2026The President also called for unity in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty, security, and peace on its own terms. He reiterated his commitment as OSCE PA President to defend multilateralism, the Helsinki principles, and the UN Charter-based order. Pons addressed specific regional concerns, announcing plans to visit Georgia in the coming weeks to engage stakeholders constructively, reduce tensions, and bolster democratic resilience in line with OSCE commitments.

“Our responsibility is clear,” he said in closing. “Choose dialogue over coercion, the strength of arguments over the arguments of force, and unity over division – so that peace may prevail in our region.”

While in Vienna, President Pons has held a number of bilateral meetings with Permanent Representatives to the OSCE, including the Central Asian States of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

The full text of President Pons’s speech is available here.

To watch video of the speech, please click here.