OSCE Permanent Council No. 1520 Vienna, 15 May 2025

The European Union warmly welcomes Ambassador Antti Karttunen to the Permanent Council and thanks him for his comprehensive report. As the OSCE region and beyond continues to grapple with the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we commend the Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) for its continued efforts in all three dimensions of security, as well as on cross-dimensional topics. We also commend the host country in implementing OSCE principles and commitments in line with Uzbekistan´s reform priorities. Moreover, we appreciate Uzbekistan’s strengthened engagement with the OSCE, facilitated by the PCUz. We took note of the elections of the Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan, held on 27 October in accordance with the regular election cycle and observed by many international observers, including from OSCE/ODIHR. We also took note of the ODIHR recommendations and look forward to their implementation by Uzbekistan. We particularly support the continuation of PCUz projects and activities in the following areas: promoting gender equality, media freedom, countering cybercrime - including the misuse of AI for criminal purposes - and enhancing ICT security promoting human rights, supporting a multi-stakeholder approach in preventing and responding to radicalisation, violent extremism and terrorism,  promoting democratic reforms, enhancing the role of youth, promoting anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, combating corruption,...