Italy calls for full implementation of the Minsk Agreements
In 2018, Italy replaced Austria as Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe or OSCE. As Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said on January 1, during its period of leadership, Rome plans to center its efforts mainly on resolving a refugee crisis in the Mediterranean region.
Alfano also said that the organization will continue to closely monitor the situation in eastern Ukraine. The conflict in the Donbas and around Ukraine “challenges the very fundamental principles the OSCE is based upon,” Alfano stressed.
Italy will continue the position of its predecessors, Germany and Austria and it will keep pushing for “full implementation of the Minsk Agreements,” the diplomat added.
The minister promised to present a concrete program with a list of priorities under the Italian leadership at the January 11 OSCE meeting in Vienna.