OSCE Office in Tajikistan and German OSCE Chairmanship present priorities for co-operation in 2016

DUSHANBE, 10 February 2016 – Holger Green, Germany’s Ambassador to Tajikistan and Markus Mueller, Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan today discussed the priorities of Germany’s 2016 OSCE Chairmanship.

Meeting at the OSCE Office’s premises in Dushanbe, Ambassador Green said that the Chairmanship’s top priorities will be rebuilding trust among participating States and maintaining efforts for achieving a political solution to the conflict in and around Ukraine.

He added that in 2016, Germany will organize a series of events aimed at facilitating co-operation in the many different fields of the OSCE’s work including in the areas of transnational threats, such as international terrorism and radicalization; continuing the dialogue on arms control and confidence-building measures; and promoting good governance.

He emphasized that in the field of human rights, Germany would pay particular attention to safeguarding commitments within the OSCE area and to improving their implementation.

Ambassador Mueller noted that “the priorities of the German Chairmanship correspond with the work of the Office in Tajikistan and reflect the OSCE’s good co-operation with the Government of Tajikistan.” He also praised the support that OSCE projects have received from Germany in the last seven years, among them, the Border Management Staff College, the Patrol Programming and Leadership Project, the Counter Radicalization Capacity Building project and the Police Reform Phase II.