STORY: OSCE appoints former Turkish FM as new secretary general
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 5/6, 2024
DATELINE: Dec. 8, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:34
LOCATION: Valletta
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arriving at the meeting 
2. various of the opening ceremony of the meeting 
3. various of the press conference 
4. various of the closing of the meeting 

STORYLINE:

All 57 participating states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed on Friday to appoint former Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu as the new secretary general.

Three other high-ranking officials were also appointed during the 31st OSCE Ministerial Council, which was held in Malta on Thursday and Friday. These key positions had been vacant since September due to a lack of consensus on candidates.

"These appointments reaffirm the OSCE's critical role as a platform for dialogue and cooperation," said OSCE chair-in-office Ian Borg, who also serves as Malta's deputy prime minister and foreign minister.

Sinirlioglu expressed hope that he could act as "a bridge and a facilitator" between participating states.

However, deep divisions among participating states led to failure at the Malta meeting to achieve substantial progress on the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Furthermore, no agreement was reached on the OSCE budget.

The meeting was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. This was Lavrov's first visit to an EU country since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022.

Finland, which joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) last year, is set to chair the OSCE for a one-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

Established in 1975, the OSCE is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its 57 participating states span Europe, North America, and northern and central Asia, covering much of the northern hemisphere. Headquartered in Vienna, the OSCE is dedicated to promoting stability, peace, and democracy.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Valletta.
(XHTV)