OSCE Ministerial Council to meet in Hamburg, Germany on 8-9 December, media accreditation now open
HAMBURG, 18 October 2016 – The 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council will take place on 8 and 9 December 2016 in Hamburg, Germany.
The event will be held at the invitation of the 2016 OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The Ministerial Council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE. The meeting, held annually, provides the foreign ministers of the 57 OSCE participating States an opportunity to review and assess the Organization's activities and strengthen the dialogue on security issues in the OSCE area.
Journalists are invited to cover the Ministerial, which will be held at the Hamburg fair site (Hamburg Messe), Messeplatz 1, Hamburg. Media representatives will access the site of the Ministerial Council through the West Entrance (”Eingang West”), accessible from the public transport station Sternschanze (metro and urban railway).
Advance accreditation of media representatives is mandatory. Accreditation takes place on a self-registration basis via a dedicated e-mail address.
Please register at presse@diplo.de giving the following information:
Full name, place and date of birth, passport number and nationality, postal address, e-mail address, name and country of media. Only registrations in German or English will be accepted.
The deadline for registration is 6 p.m., 30 November 2016.
During the Ministerial Council, there will be some photo opportunities with limited access (pool arrangement). A list of pooled photo opportunities will be issued separately in due course and interested media representatives will be requested to state preferences for one or several pools via e-mail to presse@diplo.de .
Journalists already accredited at various OSCE locations still need to complete the special accreditation for the Ministerial Council as indicated above.
Visa requirements must be met before arrival in Germany. Journalists that require an entry visa must submit their request to the competent authorities at least two weeks before their expected travel date.
Accommodation: Until 24 October 2016 media representatives can make reservations for hotel rooms in Hamburg for the period from 6 December through 10 December 2016 through a dedicated online booking platform (INTERPLAN): https://interplan.eventsair.com/hh-osze16/press/Site/Register .
After 24 October 2016 this online platform will be closed and hotel booking will have to be made through generally accessible booking tools.
Detailed information about media facilities, instructions for accreditation, booking of hotels and visa requirements are available at: https://www.osce.org/cio/275346
CONTACTS:
OSCE Communication and Media Relations Section
OSCE Secretariat
Office: + 43 1 514 36 6756
(From 08:30-17:30 Vienna time, weekdays)
Mobile: + 43 676 71 74 592
(For urgent and out of office hours requests)
press@osce.org
Press Department of the Federal Foreign Office, Berlin
Office: +49 30 1817 2056
(From 08:30-17:30 Berlin time, weekdays)