OSCE Permanent Council No. 1456 Vienna, 14 December 2023

1. The European Union warmly welcomes and thanks the Chairs of the Security, the Economic and Environmental and the Human Dimension Committees for their presentations and for ensuring a collaborative approach among the Committees, promoting the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security throughout 2023. In one of the most challenging years for the Organisation, and the OSCE area and beyond, exacerbated by Russia’s ongoing unprovoked, unjustified and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, we commend the flexibility and dedication of the three Committees in adapting their programme to address the most pressing and relevant issues.
2. We congratulate Ambassador Stoian and his team for the commendable work accomplished by the Security Committee. We attach great importance to the Security Committee as a forum for discussing non-military security issues and as a platform for advancing OSCE commitments related to transnational threats. We welcome the continued focus on challenges stemming from Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, including the protection of critical infrastructure, challenges in cyber space, organised crime in conflict-affected areas, border security and management, police-related activities during conflict and in post-conflict rehabilitation, combating disinformation, and the illicit trafficking in cultural property. The EU also commends your professional and inclusive approach to the conduct of the meetings, promoting interactive and practice-oriented discussions, and the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society, think tanks, and academia. 
3. We extend our gratitude to Ambassador Florian Raunig, Chair of the Economic and Environmental Committee, for his leadership and the significant contributions of his team to the successful work of the Second Dimension in 2023. We commend the EEC for its efforts in addressing pressing issues, notably the security threats arising from environmental degradation and damage to critical energy infrastructure due to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Furthermore, we applaud the Committee's focus on essential topics such as the promotion of good governance, the fight against corruption, energy security and sustainability, and food security. We appreciate the attention on these issues as an integral part of the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security. We reiterate our support for upholding a balance between economic and environmental topics, and we look forward to including relevant stakeholders, such as civil society, academia and the private sector in our discussions as much as possible also in the future.
4. We express our appreciation to Ambassador Anne-Marie Callan and her team for successfully chairing this year’s Human Dimension Committee, and for keeping the focus on the most pertinent issue: Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and its tragic consequences and impact on the human rights situation in the region and beyond. We welcome your approach of focusing discussions on many of the most pressing matters within the Human Dimension, including the Right to Education in War, Combating Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War, the Safety of Human Rights Defenders, Upholding International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, Accountability, and fundamental freedoms. These topics are relevant not only for the human dimension of security but also for comprehensive security as a whole. The Moscow Mechanism report on human rights in the Russian Federation has effectively highlighted the clear linkages between internal repression and external aggression.
5. We also appreciate the good discussions during the Joint Committee meeting that took place this July, addressing the issue of trafficking in human beings, including in the context of large refugee flows as a consequence of Russia's war of aggression.
6. Thanking once again the Chairs of the three Committees for their dedication and their leadership, we trust that intensified engagement on the cross-dimensional and cross-regional impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and on the abovementioned important topics will continue next year under the Chairpersonship of Malta. Your committees’ work exemplifies the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security, and we look forward to actively supporting and contributing to it.

The Candidate Countries NORTH MACEDONIA*, MONTENEGRO*, ALBANIA*, UKRAINE, the REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA, BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA*, and GEORGIA, the EFTA country LIECHTENSTEIN, member of the European Economic Area, as well as ANDORRA and SAN MARINO align themselves with this statement.  

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.