Response to the Readout by Ambassador Andreas Nothelle of the OSCE PA
As delivered by Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gregory Macris
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
July 19, 2018
We thank Ambassador Nothelle for the readout today, as well as for the more detailed briefing he gave in a special meeting on the subject yesterday.
The resolutions adopted by the OSCE PA are an important reflection of the views of the majority of our parliamentarians. They can address issues that we sometimes are not able to reach consensus on here, as well as raise new and emerging issues.
The United States had a large delegation of Members of Congress in Berlin, where they proposed a supplementary resolution and several amendments to various other resolutions on a variety of subjects, including combating trafficking in persons, Russian aggression in Ukraine, and ensuring open access for civil society to OSCE events.
We should all look carefully through these recommendations for follow-up here in Vienna. Several areas of OSCE work have sprung from the OSCE PA, including combating trafficking in persons, and countering anti-Semitism, intolerance, and discrimination.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
