OSCE Parliamentary Assembly gathers for 13th meetin in Edinburgh

The 13th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will open in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Monday.

The participants will focus on the problem of cooperation and partnership in the face of new security challenges, reports the OSCE PA press service.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy who is currently presiding at the OSCE will open the plenary meetings. Over 300 parliamentarians from 55 OSCE member-countries are expected to take part in the forum. (The OSCE comprises European countries, former Soviet republics, the United States and Canada).

The session participants are expected to consider draft resolutions on efforts against international terrorism, drug trafficking, racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and organised crime. The situation surrounding ethnic minorities in Latvia and Estonia, developments in Ukraine and the Transdniestria, a self-proclaimed republic on the left bank of the Dniester inhabited predominantly by Russian speakers, Kosovo settlement and other issues will also dominate the session agenda.

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Bruce George, General Secretary Spencer Oliver and Treasurer Jerry Grafstein are expected to deliver reports.

Boris Gryzlov, Speaker of the State Duma, parliament's lower house, will lead the Russian delegation to the session. Mr Gryzlov, who is heading the Russian delegation at the forum, is scheduled to take part in the meeting of the OSCE PA permanent committee on July 5, the opening ceremony and to hold a meeting with Mr George.

Leonid Ivanchenko, a member of the Russian delegation and a co-speaker of the OSCE PA Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment (The Second OSCE PA Committee, is expected to make a report at the session.

On the final day of the session, July 9, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will pass a final resolution to step up efforts against the challenges of the 21st century. The participants are also expected to elect a new president.