Ambassador Angelo Gnaedinger, the Special Representative of the Swiss OSCE-Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, on Friday held consultations about the OSCE engagement in the South Caucasus in 2015 with the incoming Serbian Chairmanship.

Ambassador Gnaedinger was received in Belgrade by Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, the incoming Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE.

Based on a joint workplan, Switzerland and Serbia are closely co-ordinating their consecutive Chairmanships of the OSCE in 2014 and 2015.

Promoting dialogue and confidence-building in the protracted conflicts of this region are key elements of Ambassador Gnaedinger's engagement.

Gnaedinger represents the OSCE in the Geneva International Discussions on the consequences of the conflict in Georgia and in the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism in Ergneti (Georgia). He also supports and accompanies the international mediation efforts of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Foreign Minister Daćić underlined that he is looking forward to his co-operation with Ambassador Gnaedinger. Mr Gnaedinger, on his part, welcomed the constructive discussions he had with Minister Dačić and the Serbian OSCE Chairmanship Task Force and said he will gladly support the Chairmanship in 2015.