OSCE, EU officials meet in Brussels

BRUSSELS, 19 November 2007 - Kosovo elections, Kazakhstan's bid to chair the OSCE, election observation missions, and preparations for the Madrid OSCE Ministerial Council topped the agenda at an OSCE-EU Troika meeting in Brussels today.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, said the OSCE Mission in Kosovo (OMIK) played an important role in supporting the local elections in Kosovo, which "gave its provisional self-government institutions legitimacy and will help further promote democracy".

Minister Moratinos said that the OSCE should stay in Kosovo. "This is primarily because of the role it plays in monitoring the protection of rights of all communities. Our extensive field presence is a big asset allowing us to work at grass root level, to monitor the situation on a daily basis and to provide reliable information," he said.

He added that the OSCE should also seek close co-operation and co-ordination with other international actors present in Kosovo, especially with the EU. The mandates for OSCE field operations are typically renewed annually.

Speaking about Kazakhstan's aspiration to chair the OSCE, Minister Moratinos said that the Organization's 56 participating States appear to be getting closer to finding a common position. "Spain is hopeful that consensus on this could be reached in Madrid," he added.

The OSCE Troika brings together this year's Chairman-in-Office with the previous and succeeding Chairmen, or their representatives. Ambassador Bertrand de Crombrugghe, the Head of the Permanent Mission of Belgium to the OSCE, represented last year's Chairmanship. Finland, which will chair the OSCE in 2008, was represented by Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva.

The activities of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) were also discussed. Participants agreed that an open and inclusive approach to NGO participation in OSCE human dimension events is a key advantage, and gives a rare opportunity to civil society representatives from OSCE participating States to present their concerns and proposals to national delegations and to the international community. They also agreed that election support and observation should be maintained to assess the implementation of OSCE commitments relating to elections.

"Unencumbered election observation is one of the cornerstones of any democracy and the ODIHR is rightly regarded as setting the standard in this area," said the Chairman-in-Office.

Chairman Moratinos briefed the participants on preparations for the 29-30 November OSCE Ministerial Council in Madrid. "The Spanish OSCE Chairmanship is continuing its efforts in trying to accommodate positions and find consensus on issues of contention amongst OSCE participating States."

OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, who heads the Organization's Vienna-based Secretariat that provides continuity for the Chairmen-in-Office, also attended the meeting.

While in Brussels, Minister Moratinos also delivered a speech to the North Atlantic Council and met NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.