Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand attends the 22^nd OSCE Ministerial Council of  the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

On 3-4 December 2015, Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, led the Thai delegation to the 22^nd OSCE Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia.

The OSCE is a forum for political dialogue and cooperation on conflict prevention, crisis management, and post-conflict rehabilitation. The OSCE Ministerial Council is an annual forum where Foreign Ministers or representatives from all 57 OSCE Participating States and its Partners for Co-operation, including six Asian Partners and five Asian Partners, as well as institutions under the OSCE gather to review the OSCE’s past performance and discuss about security challenges in a comprehensive approach covering three main dimensions: 1) politico-military 2) economic and environmental and 3) human dimension.

During the meeting, the Vice Minister has delivered two Interventions at the plenary session and at the meeting between the OSCE Troika and the Asian Partners. In his statement at the plenary session, the Vice Minister expressed his condolences to the victims of the terrorist attacks occurred recently in many parts of the world and Thailand’s readiness to stand with international community in fighting against terrorism. He stressed that sustainable development and interfaith dialogue should also be promoted to tackle the root cause of extremism. Moreover, Thailand also  showed its readiness to share and exchange experiences in addressing the problem of irregular migration as Thailand has just hosted the 2^nd International Conference on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean during 3-4 December, 2015 in Bangkok.

At the meeting with the OSCE Troika, the Vice Minister reiterated Thailand’s commitment to enhance cooperation on common peace and security issues that Asia and the OSCE can work together, for example, counter-terrorism and extremism, disaster risk reduction, human trafficking and anti-narcotic drug. As the only ASEAN member country in the OSCE, the Vice Minister  expressed Thailand’s willingness to be a bridge between the OSCE and ASEAN to support a closer partnership between the two regions and also its readiness to host the 2016 OSCE– Asian Partner Conference on 6-7 June, in Bangkok next year.  

In this occasion, the Vice Minister and the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia have attended the signing ceremony of the visa exemption agreement for holders of diplomatic and official passports of Thailand and Serbia. Moreover, the Vice Minister had bilateral meetings with Ministers from six countries, including Andorra, Afghanistan, Montenegro, Belarus, Georgia, and Serbia, to strengthen bilateral ties and seek support for its candidature for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the term 2017 – 2018.