From 7 to 8 December 2017, over 40 foreign ministers from OSCE states will convene in Vienna, Austria, for the annual Ministerial Council, to consider the settlement of military conflicts, fight against terrorism and the results of the Austrian chairmanship in 2017, TASS reports.
The participants also discuss the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh and Pridnestrovian conflicts.
"Kishinev and Tiraspol were aиду to make notable progress in November and to agree on several important protocol decisions in the social and economic spheres. In addition, the first round of negotiations in the '5+2' format had been held in Vienna since 2016. The sides managed to agree to achieve practical results in 2018 on the implementation of the provisions of the Berlin Protocol and to continue the negotiation process at all levels," notes TASS.
The council will also sum up Austria's OSCE Chairmanship, which will proceed to Italy in 2018. The new chairman will be the Italian foreign minister, Angelino Alfano. The OSCE itself notes that during the Italian chairmanship the focus will shift to Mediterranean issues.
As stated by Alfano, Italy intends to focus on the strengthening of the common space of OSCE security, the establishment of stability with a constant desire for dialogue and cooperation from Vancouver to Vladivostok. The priorities of the Italian chairmanship will continue to be the observance of the arms control regime, the establishment and strengthening of trust in the common space, the organisation of a structured dialogue on cooperation in the security sector.
"The future OSCE chairman is going to focus on the settlement of other conflicts and hotbeds of tension — Ukraine, Nagorny Karabakh, Pridnestrovie. Special attention, according to the Italian minister, should be given to the migration crisis and migratory routes across the Mediterranean Sea," reports TASS.
