Frozen conflicts and organized crime priorities for 2006 says new OSCE Chairman, Belgian Foreign Minister De Gucht
VIENNA, 12 January 2006 - Addressing the OSCE Permanent Council for the first time as Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said solving frozen conflicts in former Soviet states and tackling organized crime would be among the main priorities in the year ahead.
Thanking his predecessor, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, for "lifting the cloud of doom which shrouded the OSCE a year ago", Minister De Gucht said that Belgium assumed its responsibilities with optimism.
"After a challenging year in 2005, I think that there is now a greater recognition of what the OSCE and its unique cross-dimensional mandate can do for peace and stability in Europe. And the OSCE looks in a better shape now than at the beginning of the year 2005", he added.
The key concern for the OSCE remained security and stability in the whole of Europe, said the incoming Chairman, because there could be no effective and lasting democratic rule without stability.
"Conversely, peace and security are also predicated upon respect for democracy, civil liberties and human rights. There will be no lasting stability without economic development. That is why we should attach great importance to each and every of the three dimensions of our comprehensive approach of security", he added.
Highlighting the decisions taken at last month's Ministerial Council in Ljubljana, he focused on the rule of law and specifically the fight against organized crime.
"This is an issue that concerns all OSCE countries, East and West. It is also a theme which directly preoccupies our citizens. Organized crime eats away societies like gangrene affects bodies.
"The fight against organized crime is not new to the OSCE which already has action programmes on combating human trafficking, illegal drugs and weapon trading, money laundering and corruption. The OSCE has also started up programmes to strengthen the rule of law, and provide assistance for police and judiciary training. During our Chairmanship, we want to bring more coherence between the numerous OSCE-activities in the field, try to give more substance and backbone to these activities and introduce new ideas."
Turning to the so-called "frozen conflicts", Minister De Gucht said he hoped 2006 would be a year of "new opportunities". He announced a visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan on 24 January in order that the Chairmanship could contribute to a successful outcome over the future of Nagorno-Karabakh.
He also saw "positive developments" on the question of South Ossetia in Georgia. He hoped that these would serve as examples of progress for other regions including Moldova and the issue of Transdniestria, where the resumption of negotiations under a new format was urgently needed.
Within the south-eastern Europe region, where the OSCE still has most of its mission resources located, he singled out Kosovo for special attention, announcing he would visit the region in February.
"This will be a critical year for Kosovo. Negotiations on the future status have started. The OSCE, with its massive presence on the ground, is bound to play a major role when UNMIK winds down its mission."
The Chairman-in-Office said he would maintain close touch with the United Nations Special Representative, former Finnish President Maarti Ahtisaari, as well as with other leading organizations, to ensure the OSCE would be actively involved in this process.
On the OSCE role in elections in 2006, he said that recent events had demonstrated the sensitive nature of election monitoring in particular.
"This is not, in itself, a cause of surprise but nor should it be a reason to question the legitimacy nor the usefulness of institutions such as the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). These institutions are designed primarily to reinforce and not to undermine, as is sometimes argued, the credibility of the democratic process wherever it takes place.
"As CiO, I am of the opinion that it is the duty of participating States to make full use, in a timely manner, of existing instruments designed to assure transparency and accountability. We call on Belarus to invite ODHIR to observe the upcoming presidential elections."
"Our Organization has been instrumental in bridging the great European divide of the Cold War. Since then, we have built a body of commitments, norms and principles, which now bind us together. This is in fact the essence of modern collective security in the broadest sense. I would like to reiterate our profound attachment to these common principles and to the institutions of the OSCE", said Minister De Gucht.