The 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council will take place on Dec. 8-9, 2016 in Hamburg, Germany, the OSCE said in a message posted on its website.

The event will be held at the invitation of the 2016 OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The Ministerial Council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE. The meeting, held annually, provides the foreign ministers of the 57 OSCE participating states an opportunity to review and assess the Organization's activities and strengthen the dialogue on security issues in the OSCE area.

The OSCE chairmanship will pass to Austria in January 2017.