OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan commemorates the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki Final Act

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan held an online event to mark 45 years since the signing of the Helsinki Final Act and the creation of what is now the OSCE on 28 August 2020.

The online meeting attracted high-level participation from OSCE institutions and project partners in Uzbekistan as well as the diplomatic community in Tashkent. The discussions focused on the continued relevance of OSCE commitments to all OSCE’s 57 participating States and recognized the role of the OSCE presence in Central Asia and Uzbekistan, with the OSCE Liason Office in Central Asia and, later, offices in capitals of all Central Asian countries, that allowed for strong co-operation between the field missions and the Secretariat. The event allowed sharing perspectives on the development of the current and further co-operation between the OSCE and the Republic of Uzbekistan

Tanzila Narbaeva, Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tuula Yrjölä, Officer-in-Charge/OSCE Secretary General as well as representatives from the current and upcoming OSCE Chairpersonships opened the event and shared their reflections of the current challenges and opportunities for the OSCE and its presence in Uzbekistan.

OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan John MacGregor said: “I recall the major event in Helsinki, Finland, attended by the then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the US President at that time, European leaders and the head of the Soviet Union, in August 1975. Somehow, they all managed to achieve a consensus, and that made the Helsinki Final Act a very powerful political statement.”

MacGregor noted the particular relevance of OSCE commitments in Uzbekistan adding that the Government’s National Action Strategy for 2017-2021 is almost fully consistent with them.