The Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Guglielmo Picchi, today attended the informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) held in Slovakia’s High Tratas. The Slovak Presidency stimulated a debate on the role that the OSCE can play at multilateral level in the present international scenario.
In his contribution, Picchi emphasised that “Italy believes in the role and the value added of the OSCE as a valuable forum of dialogue for the security of the region,” although he pointed out that, at the moment, the “spirit of Helsinki”, which was the founding principle in the creation of the Organisation in the ‘70s, “seem to have died down because of the lack of political will”. Undersecretary Picchi called on the attendees to “make good use of the money of the citizens of the Participating States also in International Organisations.” “The key consists in not wasting time in discussing procedural matters and instead concentrate on the substance of the problems so as to offer solutions that meet the needs of our populations. For example, we should work to shorten the transit time to the Check Point along the contact line in Ukraine,” he added, recalling his visit in Ukraine under the Italian Presidency of OSCE in 2018. Undersecretary Picchi then recalled the positive role of the 16 Missions in the OSCE States and pointed out, among other things, the considerable progress recently recorded in the protracted conflict in Transnistria, also thanks to the Rome Protocol of May 2018. He added that they should consider establishing OSCE Field Missions “also in Western Countries, for example to tackle the growing challenge posed by migration flows.” Lastly, Undersecretary Picchi recalled the importance of cooperating with the Organisation’s Partner Countries and of the action that Italy is performing in this direction as Chair of the Contact Group with Asian Partners.
