Swiss and Serbian foreign ministers prepare to lead OSCE

VIENNA, 2 July 2013 – The foreign minister of Switzerland and Serbia, Didier Burkhalter and Ivan Mrkić, outlined today the joint workplan of their consecutive Chairmanships of the OSCE in 2014 and 2015 at a special meeting of the Permanent Council in Vienna.

“By taking the helm next year, we wish to contribute to creating a security community for everyone,” said Burkhalter. He stressed that dialogue in the South Caucasus, modernizing military transparency arrangements, exchanging on the future of conventional arms control and improving governance in the security sector were among the Swiss priorities in the politico-military area of the OSCE’s work.

Improving people’s lives by “combating torture, respecting human rights in the fight against terrorism, protecting human rights defenders, and respecting the rights of persons belonging to national minorities,” would also be areas of focus, Burkhalter announced.  Given the close co-operation between the two chairmanships, co-operation in the Western Balkans is also a priority of the Swiss Chair.

Speaking about the Helsinki+40 process to strengthen the effectiveness of the OSCE in the run-up to the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act in 2015, which each Chairmanship will lead, Mrkić said: “We expect long and, most probably, difficult discussions on many issues, such as resolution of protracted conflicts, new transnational threats and challenges, dialogue on arms control, cyber security, human dimension issues, to name just a few.”

“Let us be reminded that our predecessors managed to traverse many junctures in the history of the CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe/OSCE and overcome severe divisions and agree on the way forward. Switzerland and Serbia strongly believe that all of us have to seize this opportunity,” Mrkić added.

Switzerland and Serbia will coordinate closely during the two consecutive chairmanships. While each country will be responsible for one year as chair alone, they want to maximize coordination so as to provide more continuity and planning certainty for the OSCE and its participating States.