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Over 1,500 delegates to participate in OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava

A total of 70 official delegations have arrived in Bratislava

BRATISLAVA, December 5. /TASS/. A total of 70 official delegations comprising more than 1,500 politicians, diplomats and experts, will take part in the OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava, Slovakia, on December 5-6, 2019.

"The delegations of all the 57 states members of the organization, as well as from 11 OSCE partner nations, will take part in the work of the OSCE Ministerial Council," said Boris Gandel, the spokesman for Slovakia’s foreign minister and OSCE chairperson-in-office.

"A total of 70 official delegations which include foreign ministers and prominent experts - 1,500 participants in total - have arrived in Bratislava," the spokesman continued. The meeting will also be attended by representatives of 19 international organizations and 20 prominent non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Over 150 journalists, including 100 foreign ones, have been accredited to cover the meeting, to be held in the Incheba Expo congress and exposition center in the Petrzalka district of Bratislava, near the Novy Most bridge.

"The session of the OSCE Ministerial Council will de-facto wrap up Slovakia’s membership in the organization, which began on January 1, 2019," he said. "During the event, the republic will confer the related duties on Albania, the country that will assume the rotating presidency on January 1 next year," Gandel said.

Russia’s agenda

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the event and will also hold a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of it.

"In Bratislava, Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to have an intense program of bilateral talks with other foreign ministers of member nations, partner countries, the leadership of the OSCE and other international organizations," the Russian Foreign Ministry said ahead of the meeting. "Before the start of the Ministerial Council, a traditional meeting of CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] foreign ministers is scheduled to take place."

Lavrov's schedule includes a meeting with Josep Borrell, the European Union’s new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission.

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