Tbilisi to host 25th annual session of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Preparations in Georgia are in full swing ahead of next year’s annual international security forum involving hundreds of foreign politicians.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili today revealed the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th annual session will be held in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi on July 1-5, 2016.

It will be the first time Georgia will host the annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The large-scale event will bring together about 700 foreign politicians and act as a stage to promote Georgia’s successful image to the world. Garibashvili stressed the country "has never hosted such an important and large-scaled international occasion” before. 

Georgia will host delegations from 57 foreign states and the number of foreign politicians attending the session will reach seven hundred,” Garibashvili said. 

Georgia's Prime Minister announced about the upcoming OSCE session in Georgia. Photo by the Prime Minister's webpage. 

The Government and Parliament of Georgia were working hard to prepare for the event and provide a high-level reception to the hundreds of guests.

The OSCE is a group of 57 states who collectively adopt a comprehensive approach to address a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, human rights, counter-terrorism and more. 

The OSCE formerly had a presence in Georgia but this ended seven years ago. The OSCE Mission to Georgia, established in 1992, assisted the then Georgian government with conflict settlement, democratisation, human rights and the rule of law. However no consensus was reached on the extension of the Mission's mandate in 2008 when Georgia experienced war with Russia.