Spanish parliamentarian Pere Joan Pons Sampietro is elected Assembly President for a two-year term as the OSCE PA issues wide-ranging recommendations the fields of political affairs and security, economics, environmental concerns, human rights, democracy, and humanitarian questions.
PORTO, 3 July 2025 – Commemorating the OSCE’s 50th anniversary year while lamenting that many its core principles of co-operation and dialogue have been undermined by a trend of noncompliance with international rules and commitments, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly today called for all OSCE participating States to recommit to the spirit of co-operation that inspired the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in 1975.
The Porto Declaration, adopted unanimously in plenary session by the OSCE PA, reiterates the continued importance of the Helsinki Final Act, and recommits to upholding and promoting its principles, including respect for sovereign equality, refraining from the threat or use of force, the inviolability of frontiers, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Download the Porto Declaration here.
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Focusing heavily on the Russian Federation’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the Assembly demands the immediate cessation of all acts of aggression and the full withdraw of Russian forces from the entire territory of Ukraine. It further welcomes international initiatives aimed at achieving a peace agreement, and urges such initiatives to align with the UN Charter, OSCE principles and commitments, as well as international law.
The Porto Declaration contains recommendations in all dimensions of security, with its many important topics including critical infrastructure and nuclear safety, water scarcity and migration, artificial intelligence and misuse of technology, the situation in the Middle East, demographic change, organized crime, gender equality, youth radicalization and violent extremism, energy security, good governance, maritime security, minorities and vulnerable groups, reproductive health, child trafficking and sexual exploitation, climate change, and OSCE institutional co-operation.
The result of several days of work in general committees and plenary sessions in Porto, the Declaration represents the collective voice of the OSCE’s parliamentary dimension, and will now be presented to national governments, parliaments and the international community.
Also today, the Assembly chose new leadership, with Pere Joan Pons (Spain) elected to a two-year term as OSCE PA President. The Assembly elected four new Vice-Presidents: Eugenio Zoffili (Italy), Lucie Potůčková (Czechia), Gábor Hajdu (Romania), and Irene Charalambides (Cyprus). Johan Büser (Sweden) was re-elected Treasurer. Yesterday, the three general committees elected their leadership for the coming year.
Also yesterday, the Assembly debated the situation in the Middle East and the state of the OSCE 50 years after Helsinki and heard addresses by representatives of the OSCE and other international organizations.
“The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly can play a critical role, both in promoting shared principles and commitments, and in ensuring that the OSCE remains an effective platform for dialogue and action,” OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu told the Assembly. “You, as the elected representatives of your communities, are a vital link between this institutions and the people it is meant to serve.”
The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Maria Telalian, NATO PA President Marcos Perestrello and President of PACE Theodoros Rousopoulos also addressed the parliamentarians yesterday, offering perspectives on the state of European security and human rights, and today, Ambassador Jouni Laaksonen, Head of the Finnish OSCE 2025 Chairpersonship Task Force, spoke in the plenary followed by a question and answer session.
OSCE PA Vice-President and Luís Graça (Portugal) and Secretary General Roberto Montella also addressed the Assembly, noting that the work of the parliamentarians in Porto will contribute substantively to ensuring that the Organization can deliver on its mandate to build comprehensive security for one billion citizens of the OSCE area.
Videos of the Annual Session are available on YouTube and Facebook, and photos of the meeting can be found on Flickr. Please visit the Annual Session’s web page for more information.
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly