Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organisation.  It even has observer status as the United Nations.  It began in 1973 as a forum between the west and the east during the Cold War.  The OSCE focuses on arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and free and fair elections.  

Its headquarters are in Vienna and today the OSCE consists of 57 participating countries plus 11 observer/partner countries.  The six official languages are English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian. 

It's basically every country in Europe plus the USA and Canada.  The 11 partner countries are Afghanistan, Australia, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, South Korea, Thailand, and Tunisia. 

Each year a different country assumes the chairmanship for a calendar year and that country's minister of foreign affairs is the Chairperson-in-Office.  Czechoslovakia held the chairmanship in 1992.  An independent Czechland hasn't held the chairmanship yet but Slovakia held it in 2019.  

The chairmanship is with Poland this year.  North Macedonia has it next year followed by Estonia in 2024 and Finland in 2025.

Here's a short video I found out on YouTube about the OSCE.

©The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Andalusia Trip Summary

Málaga

We had an awesome week in Spain.  This was my first time in Andalusia and found it to be brilliant.

We stayed in Málaga which was great.  There's so much to see and do here.  It's also makes a great home base for several day trips.


Plus it's on the Costa del Sol and it felt so good to be at the beach.





In Málaga, we saw people preparing for the Holy Week celebration.  The processions will start on Palm Sunday and continue until Easter Sunday just as they have here for more than 500 years.

Our first day trip was to Tangier which was my first time in Africa.  It was a long day and gave us a quick feel for the city.  There are still places I want to visit in Morocco but I don't have a burning desire to go back to Tangier.  But I did ride a camel.
Our next day trip was to Granada and a visit to La Alhambra.  Granada seemed like such a great place that we really want to stay here next time.  Perhaps combining it with visits to Córdoba and Sevilla.



We really enjoyed our tour to Gibraltar.  Not sure I would want to stay here a week but perhaps for a long weekend.

No visit here is complete without seeing the macaques.  I made sure to pick up a toy monkey souvenir for Tünde.  It makes loud monkey noises so I'm sure she'll love it; Claudia probably not so much but my job as godfather is to spoil her.

In Málaga

I grew up in California and part of my family is Mexican so I grew up with people speaking Latin American Spanish, or our version of it called Spanglish.  Normally my biggest challenge is Latin American Spanish vs. European Spanish.

Breakfast hot chocolate and churros

This week I found my Czech messing up my Spanish.  In Czech, jo means "yes" or "yeah" which sounds just like yo which in Spanish means "I".  So I found myself wanting to say "yes, yes" and felt bloody stupid saying "I, I".  Very much like my Czech messing with my Greek in Crete and Cyprus.  I guess on the bright side Czech is becoming more and more second nature.

The food this week was a definite highlight.  Everything was so fresh, especially the seafood.

Seafood paella

Dinner in Spain is served late as most restaurants don't even open until 8 PM, and that's kind of early. Things start to get busy around 10 PM.



One thing I had never tried before were boquerones, fried anchovies.  They were surprising good.

So a fabulous week in Spain, plus Morocco and Gibraltar.  Even a quick stop in Zürich.  The 23℃ (73℉) weather was a welcome break from the cold in Brno and I'm looking forward to my next trip to Spain.

Day Trip to Tangier, Morocco

From the small port of Tarifa, which is the southernmost tip of Spain, it's only a 35 minute ferry to Tangier, Morocco which makes it a popular day trip from Málaga.

Tangier, طنجة, is in northwest Morocco where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea.  It's home to over 948,000 people and is the country's fourth largest city.

Carthaginian colonists established Tangier in the 5th century BC.  It was later ruled by the Greeks, Romans, Vandals, and the Byzantine Empire.

Tangier was ruled by Portugal from 1471 to 1662 when it was given to King Charles II of England as part of a dowry.


In 1923, Tangier was made an international zone.  In 1952, the zone was abolished and in 1956 it became part of Morocco.

The city is a mixture of colonial and Arabic styles.

Our tour bus took us around different parts of the city.  One of our first stops was for the €2 camel ride.  Pretty touristy but I had to do it.

We also had stops at the souk where vendors sold anything you could possible think of.

The Sidi Boy Abib Mosque was built in 1917 and is near the centre by the souk.




The Kasbah was used historically as a defence station.





After a really delicious lunch it was off to see more of the souk with stops at a carpet shop and a spice shop.

Mohammed V Mosque

Overall it was a good day.  I feel like we got a quick feel for the city which was fine.  While I still want to go to Casablanca, Fez, and Marrakesh, I feel like I saw enough of Tangier that I can cross it off my list.

Here's a Rick Steves video I found out on YouTube about the city.

©Rick Steves

Kingdom of Morocco

The Kingdom of Morocco, المملكة المغربية, is located in North Africa.  It borders Algeria and Western Sahara, as well as Spain due to the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.  Along with Spain and France, it is the only country to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines.  

Morocco is a little larger than California and is home to almost 34 million people.  The capital is Rabat and Casablanca is the largest city.  Other well-known cities include Marrakesh, Fez, and Tangier.  

Morocco has been ruled by independent dynasties since 788 AD.  It was the only country in North Africa to not fall under the Ottoman Empire.  In 1777, it was the first country in the world to recognise the USA as an independent country.  

The current royal family dates back to the 17th century.  In 1912, Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates.  Independence only came in 1956 and today it is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament.

Morocco claims Western Sahara as its southern provinces and annexed the territory in 1975 after Spain gave up the territory.  It currently controls about 80% of the territory but this ins't recognised by the United Nations.

Berber alphabet

The official languages are Arabic and Berber.  Over 30% of the population speaks French and it is used in official documents for both government and business.  

The Moroccan dirham (MAD) is the official currency.  The country is home to Africa's fifth largest economy.

Islam is the predominant religion.  Morocco is no place to be openly gay as homosexual acts are illegal and punishable by 6 months to 3 years in prison.

Here's a video I found on YouTube about how powerful the country is.

©SeekerDaily

New Consulate in Brno

Philippine Consulate in Brno

Last week, the Philippines opened a new consulate in Brno.  The new consulate's role is to support the Philippine embassy's promotion of trade, investment and tourism to Moravia.

There are official consulates here for Russia, Ukraine and Slovakia.  Brno also has honorary consulates representing Angola, Belarus, El Salvador, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Morocco, Moldova, Georgia, Laos, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Tanzania, Turkey, and Austria.

An embassy is a permanent diplomatic mission and the person in charge is the ambassador.  Embassies are normally located in a foreign country's capital city.

Russian Consulate in Brno

A consulate is kind of like a junior embassy.  Consulates are located outside of capital cities and the person in charge is the consul-general.  Consulates handle things such as fostering regional trade relationships, issuing of visas and take care of tourists and expats.

American Embassy in Prague

There is no American consulate in Brno.  The US Embassy in Prague is 116 miles away.  However the American embassies in Austria and Slovakia are actually closer.  The embassy in Vienna is only 69 miles away while the embassy in Bratislava is just 76 miles away.  There is a consulate in Krakow and another embassy in Budapest (161 and 162 miles away respectively).

EDIT:  February 11, 2014 - an honorary Finnish consulate opens in Brno.

EDIT:  July 2017 - Italy opened an official consulate in Brno.

Update 2022:  The Russian consulate was closed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  

Update 2022:  Back in 2020, the Centre for Experimental Theatre opened an Embassy of Independent Belarusian Culture. 

Update April 2023:  I came across the consulates of Liechtenstein, Morocco, and Austria.

Update 2023:  At Dům U Tří knížat, "House of the Three Princes", in the city centre is the honorary Polish consulate.