DUSHANBE, 08.10.2019 (NIAT Khovar) – The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Sirojiddin Muhriddin received a group of OSCE ambassadors in Dushanbe.

“Tajikistan attaches importance to the interaction within the OSCE and to deepening cooperation in all three dimensions of the organization’s activities,” Muhriddin emphasized.

The meeting participants held an in-depth exchange of views on the challenges and threats faced by the OSCE and its member states.

The ambassadors positively appraised the efforts of the government of Tajikistan in consolidating international efforts to counter terrorism and its financing in the Central Asian region, particularly within the ‘Dushanbe Process’ of high-level events.

In addition, the ambassadors welcomed the results of Tajikistan’s chairmanship of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation (FSC) in 2019.

A round table titled ‘Countering Terrorism, Extremism and Drug Trafficking’ was organized as part of ambassador’s visit.

This event provided an opportunity to continue a substantive discussion of Tajikistan’s efforts and contribution to the implementation of the current OSCE agenda.

The representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Committee for National Security, the Drug Control Agency and the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan made presentations during the event.

Then OSCE ambassadors visited the newly established Regional Explosive Hazards Training Centre of the Ministry of Defence of Tajikistan and the headquarters of the Drug Control Agency under the President of Tajikistan. The OSCE Ambassadors were briefed on the practical activities of these agencies in demining of explosives, destroying conventional weapons, as well as conducting operations to counter drug trafficking and its smuggling.

The working visit of the group of ambassadors ended with the visit to the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe (POiD), where they reviewed activities of the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) on its 10th anniversary, as well as held a meeting with representatives of the civil society and youth of Tajikistan.

The group of guests from Vienna included Ambassadors of Slovakia (the current OSCE Chairmanship), Italy (Coordinator), Austria, Afghanistan, Belgium, Estonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the European Union, as well as representatives of the Conflict Prevention Centre (CPC) of the OSCE Secretariat.