Greek President Karolos Papoulias will inaugurate the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council in Athens next Tuesday morning, Greek foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said on Thursday. Greece currently holds the OSCE chair.

There will follow speeches by Greek Prime Minister and Foreign Minister George Papandreou, chairman of the Council, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Joao Soares, OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut and the heads of the member-states' delegations.

The Council sessions will end with a press conference next Wednesday.

According to Delavekouras, 50 of the 56 member-states had so far confirmed that their foreign ministers would attend, while the remainder would be represented at another level. He also confirmed that there would be bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Council.

The spokesman said that the Greek OSCE chair's efforts would be focused on achieving a political declaration that built on the foundations laid with the Corfu process, using a proposal by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for a new European security treaty to launch constructive dialogue on security issues in Europe.