Foreign Minister Valtonen to present Finland’s Programme for OSCE Chairpersonship in Vienna

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit Vienna on 23 January. She will present the programme for Finland’s OSCE Chairpersonship to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has representatives from the organization’s 57 participating States and 11 Partners for Co-operation.

Finland took over the OSCE Chairpersonship on 1 January. In its programme for the Chairpersonship, Finland emphasises respect for the OSCE principles.

Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen made her first visits as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to Ukraine and Moldova. Supporting Ukraine is at the heart of the OSCE’s work during Finland's Chairpersonship.

“As OSCE Chair, our task is to ensure that the Helsinki Principles are not just a remnant of the past. They must live on and guide us at a time when Russia is waging its war of aggression against Ukraine and undermining the European security order. The principles need to be defended now more than ever,” says Minister Valtonen.

During her visit, Minister Valtonen will meet OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu, who visited Finland last week, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Maria Telalian, the Representative on Freedom of the Media Jan Braathu and High Commissioner on National Minorities Christophe Kamp.

Minister Valtonen will also have discussions with representatives of Finland’s OSCE Troika partners, Switzerland and Malta. In addition, she will meet representatives of the international media.

Minister Valtonen’s speech will be live-streamed on the OSCE website at osce.org/live. The live stream will start on 23 January at around 12.30 Finnish time.

Minister Valtonen’s and Secretary General Sinirlioğlu’s joint press conference can be followed via the same link. The live stream will start on 23 January at around 14.45 Finnish time.