The settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be a priority for Vienna during Austria’s OSCE chairmanship, Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz told the OSCE permanent Council.

“Continuous dialogue is necessary to further the negotiation process,” Kurz said.

According to the Minister, Austria will pay close attention to the settlement of all conflicts within the OSCE area.

In his first address to the OSCE Permanent Council as incoming OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz said that the fight against radicalization will be the main priority of Austria’s 2017 OSCE chairmanship.

In his presentation of the Austrian OSCE chairmanship program, Minister Kurz highlighted three major threats to security and stability, that all OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation face today: the continuing increase of military conflicts; the growing threat to internal security through radicalization and terrorism; and the continuing loss of trust between states, as well as between citizens, on the one hand, and states institutions and organizations that need to safeguard their freedoms and  values, on the other.