Dear Colleagues,

 

At the end of the annual session in Brussels, the Parliamentary Assembly will elect a new President. The Finnish OSCE Delegation has formally proposed me for the post and the Socialist Group has endorsed my candidature.

As a former Vice-President of the Assembly I am prepared to accept the challenge. My eight main points for developing the work of the Parliamentary Assembly in the coming years can be summarized as follows:

1.      The OSCE's concept of security is comprehensive and cooperative and the Parliamentary Assembly has an important role to play in fulfilling the OSCE objectives. Human security is a key concept for me.     

2.      The strength of the OSCE and its Parliamentary Assembly is the broad geographical scope (55 participating states). We need to ensure that all members, small and big countries equally, can make active contributions.

3.      The geographical, political, cultural and linguistic diversity of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly must be reflected and respected in all its activities.

4.      The Parliamentary Assembly should complement and support the intergovernmental activities of the OSCE proper avoiding unnecessary duplication and confrontations.

5.      The Parliamentary Assembly needs to further strengthen its own operative capacity (ad hoc working groups, special representatives, election monitoring) in close contact with the OSCE field missions and other OSCE institutions.

6.      The Parliamentary follow-up of OSCE activities at national level should be further developed. We could learn from national experiences in the various member countries.   

7.      The political groups could and should play a more important role in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly.

8.      Earlier personal commitments and contributions for the work of the Parliamentary Assembly should be appreciated when nominations are made for key posts and functions.

 

These are my visions for developing the Parliamentary Assembly's work in the near future. I would appreciate your support for this in the coming election on 7 July 2006.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Kimmo Kiljunen

 

 

CV Dr. Kimmo Kiljunen

 

Date of birth: 13.06.1951, Finland

married, four children, four grand-children

Degrees: M.A. (Social Sciences) Helsinki University 1973; D.Phil. (Development Studies) Sussex University, England 1985

Languages: Finnish, English, Russian, Swedish, French (modest)

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Parliamentary Functions in Finland

Member of Finnish Parliament since 1995

Grand Committee (European Affairs), vice-chairman since 1999

Foreign Affairs Committee, member since 1996

WTO sub-committee, chairman since 2000

 

OSCE PA Activities

Finnish Delegation for OSCE PA, vice-chairman, since 1995

Political and Security Committee, vice-chairman, 1996-99

Political and Security Committee, chairman 1999-2000

Working Group on Belarus, 1998-2003

Working Group on Moldova, chairman, since 2000

Head of the OSCE Election Monitoring Mission on Moldova 2001

Head of the OSCE Election Monitoring Mission on Belarus 2001

Head of the OSCE Election Monitoring Mission on Macedonia 2002

Head of the OSCE Election Monitoring Mission on Kyrgyzstan 2005

Head of the OSCE Election Monitoring Mission on Moldova 2005

OSCE PA, Vice President, 2001 - 2004

 

International parliamentary functions

Parliamentarians for Global Action, International Council member, 1995 - 1999

Nordic Council, member 1995-2001

Arctic Council, Parliamentary Standing committee, member since 1999

WTO Parliamentary Conference, member of the Steering Committee since 2001

Parliamentary Network on World Bank, vice chairman since 2001

EU Constitutional Convention, representative of the Finnish Parliament, 2002-03

Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, chairman of the Finnish Group, since 2003

Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, member since 2004

 

Work experience

Secretary General, Kampuchea Inquiry Commission, 1980-82

Secretary General, International Peace Bureau, Geneva 1984-85

Director, Institute of Development Studies, Helsinki University, 1986-95

Consultant, UNICEF, Kenya Country Office, Nairobi, 1989-91

Transition Policy Coordinator, UNDP, New York, 1993-94

 

Published 4 books in England and 12 in Finland on global development problems, international relations and political affairs.

Most recent books "The European Constitution in the Making", CEPS, Brussels, May 2004

"A Constitution for the European Union", Helsinki, May 2005

 

 

 

 

Tone Tingsgard (Sweden) as well as Gert Weisskirchen (Germany) are running for two of the three vacant seats of vice presidents. They were nominated by acclamation.

 

 

 

 

Editors

Socialist Group of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE. For contributions and remarks please contact: [email protected]