Italy’s chairmanship of OSCE to call for Minsk agreements implementation

Italy’s Chairmanship of the OSCE will in every way contribute to the establishment of peace in Ukraine.

Italy’s Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said this as he addressed the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on the upcoming Chairmanship’s priorities.

"Alfano said Italy would continue supporting all OSCE efforts towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict and urged the implementation of the Minsk agreements, in full respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and independence of Ukraine," reads the statement on the OSCE website.

According to the Italian Foreign Minister, the situation in Ukraine once again stressed the importance of such an institution as the OSCE.

"The crisis in and around Ukraine has called into question the principles on which the OSCE is based; on the other hand, however, it has clarified – once and for all – how much the world needs the OSCE to resolve the crisis," he said.

Italy will assume OSCE chairmanship next year. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurtz is the incumbent OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

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