OSCE Ministerial Council set to start in Madrid

MADRID, 28 November 2007 - Foreign ministers and high-level representatives from the 56 OSCE countries gather in Madrid tomorrow for the start of the annual Ministerial Council, with bids for the OSCE Chairmanship, sideline negotiations on a key European arms control treaty and the role of the OSCE in Kosovo topping this year's agenda.

"The Ministerial Council comes once a year, it is the most important moment in the Chairmanship," said Jose Maria Pons, the Spanish Foreign Ministry's Director General of Foreign Policy for Europe and North America, at a press briefing held today ahead of the meeting.

Spain, which holds the OSCE Chairmanship for 2007, is hosting the two-day gathering. The Ministerial Council will open Thursday with an address by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

Ambassador Pons said that the heads of delegations would hold a working lunch on Thursday covering the main issues on the agenda, including the OSCE's Mission in Kosovo, engagement with Afghanistan and the legal character of the Organization.

He emphasized the importance of extending the mandate of the Mission in Kosovo, which expires at the end of the year. The Mission is the Organization's largest field operation with 1,000 staff.

Decisions expected to be taken in Madrid address, among other matters, public-private partnerships to counter terrorism; protecting energy infrastructure from terrorist attack; environment and security; and promoting mutual respect and understanding as well as strengthening engagement with human rights defenders.

These reflect the Spanish Chairmanship's priorities focusing on the fight against terrorism, protecting the environment, encouraging participation in pluralistic societies and strengthening the OSCE's role as a forum for dialogue and co-operation.

The participating States will decide who will hold the OSCE Chairmanship after Finland's term in 2008. A decision on Kazakhstan's bid to chair the Organization was postponed at the 2006 Ministerial Council in Brussels and will be taken this year.

The activities of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE's election monitoring body, will also be addressed. Discussions on the future of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) are taking place on the sidelines of the Ministerial Council.

The annual Ministerial Council provides the 56 OSCE participating States the opportunity to review and assess the Organization's activities during the past year, as well as to approve a series of decisions for action and possible declarations on a range of subjects.