OSCE: Italy will chair the Organisation in 2018

Following a consensus decision of the 57 OSCE member States, Italy will chair the organisation in 2018. The decision was made on 27 July 2016 and was welcomed by the Italian Minister of foreign affairs Paolo Gentiloni as a recognition of Italy’s commitment to peace and stability in Europe.

The Minister further stated that the agenda of the Italian chairmanship will prioritise, among other matters, Mediterranean relations; the humanitarian crisis of migrants and refugees; and the resolution of conflictual crises such as those involving Ukraine, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transdniestria.

The OSCE chairmanship lasts one year. However, the chairman State is supported by the state which held the role during the previous year and that which will hold it during the following one. Italy will hence join the Organisation’s troika on 1 January 2017, together with Germany, which chaired OSCE in 2016, and Austria, the Organisation’s chair in 2017.