Belgian House of Representatives
The President
                                                                                             Brussels, 28 June 2006
To the members of the national delegations
to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Dear Colleague,
On behalf of the Belgian House of Representatives, it is with great honour and pleasure that I look forward to welcome you in Brussels for the summer meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
Belgium has always recognized the importance of the OSCE and its parliamentary dimension.
In taking up the chair of the OSCE for 2006 Belgium shows how much this country is committed to multilateral relations and international cooperation. The Belgian chairmanship also illustrates once again that a small country can be a key role player in an international organization.
When talking about OSCE commitments, Belgium stands as an example to most of us in the OSCE.
As far as the chairmanship of the Political Committee is concerned, may I ask you to consider, at this 15th annual session, Mr François-Xavier de Donnea’s application?
On account of Mr François-Xavier de Donnea’s special abilities and experience, I am convinced that he will be able to carry out the important task of Chairman of the Political Committee.
Mr François-Xavier de Donnea was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Belgian House of Representatives from 1983 until 1985 and has been Chairman of the Committee on Finance and Budget since 2003. He was State Secretary for Cooperation from 1983 until 1985 and Minister of Defence from 1985 until 1988.
He was Head of the Belgian delegation to the PA OSCE from 1999 until 2000 and has been member of the Belgian delegation to the PA OSCE since 2003.
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He was the main sponsor of the Resolution on “the small and light weapons†adopted in Washington in July 2005.
Mr François-Xavier de Donnea has also been asked by the Belgian foreign minister, Karel De Gucht, to draw up a report on how the election observation machinery operates in practice in the OSCE, particularly as applied by the OSCE/ODIHR, the parliamentary assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the institutions of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This report should enable the current chairman of the OSCE to make appropriate recommendations to the organisation’s ministerial meeting in December 2006.
Yours sincerely,
                                                                                 Signed: Herman DE CROO
                                                                                              President of the Belgian House
                                                                                              of Representatives