OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz to present priorities in Vienna on Thursday, 12 January

VIENNA, 9 January 2017 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, will present Austria’s Chairmanship programme and priorities to the OSCE Permanent Council on Thursday, 12 January, in Vienna.

Austria took over the Chairmanship of the Organization from Germany on 1 January 2017.

Chairperson-in-Office Kurz will outline the Austria’s Chairmanship priorities in all three OSCE dimensions with focus on crises and conflicts in the OSCE area, perspectives to rebuild trust and confidence and ways to address the phenomenon of growing radicalization and violent extremism.

Journalists are invited to cover the speech set to begin at 10:00 on 12 January at the Hofburg’s Neuer Saal, 2nd floor.

A press conference with the Chairperson-in-Office Sebastian Kurz and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, will take place after the formal Chairmanship’s inauguration, tentatively at 12:00, room 201, 2nd floor.

Journalists wishing to attend are required to send e-mail confirming their attendance to press@osce.org no later than 11 January at 16:00.

Both the speech and the press conference will be streamed live at www.osce.org/live.

Updates and the latest news from the Austrian Chairmanship can be followed via https://www.osce.org/cio and Twitter account at @AUT_OSCE, #osce17AUT.

The OSCE Permanent Council is a decision-making body gathering representatives of all 57 participating States of the Organization and 11 Partners for Co-operation. It convenes weekly in Vienna to discuss developments in the OSCE area and make decisions.