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On 21 September, the OSCE Troika meeting took place in New York. The meeting was attended by Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis, Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Kazykhanov and Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore.

The meeting focused on the preparation for the OSCE Ministerial Council, which will be held in Vilnius on 6-7 December.

A.Ažubalis stressed the importance of political support of the OSCE Troika, aiming to make decisions at the session of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius, regarding the OSCE support for democratic processes in North Africa and for Afghanistan.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister also stressed that Lithuania’s Chairmanship of the OSCE would continue to develop the OSCE commitments to media freedom and safety of journalists, and the organization’s role in addressing the issues of transport and energy security.

The Irish Foreign Minister said that issues of media freedom would become also a priority of his country’s OSCE Chairmanship in 2012.

The Ministers of the OSCE Troika discussed the situation in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kosovo. When speaking about the aspects of continuing conflicts in the OSCE space, the participants expressed their belief that the meeting of 22 September in Moscow would announce about the resumption of the official ‘5+2’ negotiations on the Transdniestrian settlement.

The Troika consists of the OSCE’s current Chairperson-in-Office (CiO) and Foreign Minister, the former CiO and the future one.

The meeting in New York was also attended by the new OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier.

After this meeting, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis met with Yerzhan Kazykhanov, Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan. The country is currently chairing the Council of the Foreign Ministers of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation.

At this separately organized meeting, the Ministers agreed to strengthen the cooperation between the two regional organizations, especially the dialogue with North African countries, the OSCE Mediterranean Partners.

Y.Kazykhanov presented the priorities of the Chairmanship of the Council of the Foreign Ministers of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, including closer cooperation of the Islamic world and integration into the global community.

On 21 September in New York, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis and the Council of Europe’s Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Kostyantyn Gryshchenko held a meeting with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, which focused on the cooperation between the OSCE and the Council of Europe.