1548th (Special) Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council
Statement by H.E Ambassador Ian Biggs, Australia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organisations in Vienna
15 January 2026
Chair, excellencies, colleagues
Australia extends our congratulations to Switzerland on assuming the Chairpersonship and assures you of our full support.
We look forward to close and constructive co-operation with participating States and Partners to promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the OSCE region and beyond.
We also take this opportunity to express our sincere sympathies to the people of Switzerland for the tragic nightclub fire in Crans Montana.
Chair
Australia welcomes your Chairpersonship’s commitment to a lasting and just peace in Ukraine, which must remain central to the OSCE’s priorities.
Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine is an assault upon the UN Charter and the Helsinki Principles.
Last week, we witnessed Russia’s latest brutal attacks on Ukraine, including the use of a nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile, known as Oreshnik.
Australia unequivocally condemns Russia’s continued strikes on residential homes and critical energy infrastructure, particularly in the depths of Ukraine’s harsh winter.
Together with the United States and Coalition of the Willing partners, Australia supports all efforts to achieve a peace deal for Ukraine that ends Russia’s war and restores security and stability in the OSCE region and beyond.
We reiterate our calls for Russia to end its detention of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine officials Vadym Golda, Maxim Petrov, and Dmytro Shabanov.
Russia’s aggression has grave and widening implications for global security.
This is most clearly demonstrated by the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to fight for the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which again highlights the importance of interregional co-operation and the relevance of the Asian Partners’ perspectives at the OSCE.
Chair
Peace, stability, and prosperity can never be taken for granted—they must be built, pursued, defended, and upheld.
Now more than ever, we need preventative architecture to increase resilience, and conflict prevention mechanisms to provide transparency and reassurance.
And we must make inclusion central to our efforts.
Women, girls and young people continue to be disproportionally affected by conflict and insecurity, in the OSCE region and across the globe.
Women’s full, effective and meaningful participation and leadership in conflict prevention and peace processes improve outcomes before, during and after conflict, leading to longer-lasting peace.
Chair
Australia commends your decision to host a Chairpersonship conference on combating antisemitism and other forms of intolerance.
I again thank participating States and Partners for their messages of condolence and solidarity following the horrific, antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach on 14 December.
An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on all Australians.
There is no place for antisemitism, racism or hatred of any kind, in Australia, in the OSCE region, or anywhere in the world.
Australia will continue to take action to stamp out antisemitism in all its forms.
And we are firmly committed to working with our partners, and through international organisations including the OSCE, to eradicate all forms of racism, hatred and intolerance.
Chair
Australia welcomes your commitment to upholding the Helsinki Principles and the OSCE’s place in the multilateral system.
Australia’s commitment to the multilateral system is enduring.
Our sovereignty and prosperity is protected when we promote international peace, security and human rights and have strong global institutions, standards and rules.
The OSCE can hold an important, continuing role in the European security architecture.
Australia welcomes the efforts of the Chairpersonship and participating States to provide certainty to OSCE Executive Structures and Autonomous Institutions.
We believe bringing together perspectives from all regions is critical to achieving the vision for peace, stability, and prosperity that we share with most participating States and Partners.
We look forward to working with participating States and Partners toward this end in 2026.
Thank you