Thank you, Ambassador Dzhusupov, for your presentation and welcome to the Permanent Council.
Since your last address to the Permanent Council, we have continued to see the devastating effects of Russia’s brutal and illegal war of aggression. Each day there is yet more impact on Ukraine’s – and the OSCE region’s – economy and environment. We are pleased to see the focus in your report on how your office is working to mitigate the effects of the war, which stretch right across the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security.
Your focus on Economic Good Governance is also particularly crucial. The OCEEA’s initiatives to combat corruption, money laundering, and the financing of terrorism are vital for promoting transparency and integrity within the region. The UK is proud to support the ExB project “Innovative Policy Solutions to Mitigate Money Laundering Risks of Virtual Assets” to build capacity in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus, to deal with this fast-evolving area.
The UK is also pleased to be able to continue to support your office’s pioneering work on climate migration. There is still work to be done to fill knowledge gaps and ensure we have data which show us the relationship between climate change and human mobility. The UK is expanding its work to tackle upstream migration and we are interested in closer collaboration with the OSCE in this area.
Ambassador Dzhusupov, thank you again for your report, and we look forward to supporting you and your able team in the months ahead.
