Council of Europe’s Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, and Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland met the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, in New York today. The meeting is the 20th between the OSCE and the Council of Europe in the “2+2” format that brings together the two organizations’ Chairs and Secretaries General.

The participants strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Ankara and Siirt in Turkey, underlining that terrorism is an assault on the common values of the two Organizations. They called for increased cooperation between the OSCE and the Council of Europe in the fight against terrorism, while respecting human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. (more...)