European Union committed to strengthening co-operation with OSCE, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Hahn tells Permanent Council
VIENNA, 18 December 2017 - The European Union and the OSCE are close partners not simply because they face the same challenges, but because of their shared interest in ensuring stability and prosperity in Europe, the EU’s Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn told a special session of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna today.
“The European Union and the OSCE are close partners. We share the same broad values and we have the same interests: maintaining peace and security in Europe, and respect for the rules agreed by all 57 OSCE participating States,” he said. “As we face up to a new array of regional and global challenges it is more important than ever that we complement each other's actions and achieve our shared goals.”
Highlighting the 2016 EU Global Strategy, he said that this plan aims at making full use of the potential of the EU's instruments to strengthen security and build the resilience of societies while ensuring an integrated approach to conflicts and crises.
“The EU Global Strategy recognizes that the OSCE lies at the heart of the European security order and calls for strengthening the EU's co-operation with the OSCE as a pillar of European security,” he said. “The OSCE, with its unique geographical scope, its autonomous institutions, its network of field operations and its overall diplomatic possibilities, can make a significant, even decisive difference to security and stability in Europe.”
Hahn said that promoting stability at Europe’s borders and helping neighbouring countries to develop stable democratic institutions and to become more prosperous has long been a strategic priority of the EU.
“The excellent EU-OSCE co-operation throughout the region will strengthen our collective leverage on the reform processes,” he said. “The OSCE has a strong presence in the Western Balkans and is particularly helping to foster human rights, democratic governance and the rule of law.”
He noted that the OSCE and the EU work together in important fields such as election observation, the freedom of the media, the rights of minorities, promoting the rule of law and monitoring war crimes justice. The EU has contributed €30 million to the budget of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, he said.
“It is only natural that the co-operation between the EU and the OSCE has intensified over time,” said Hahn. “This co-operation covers functional, thematic and geographical areas and makes an important contribution to the achievement of our common goals.”