OSCE foreign ministers start meeting with focus on unresolved conflicts and boosting Organization's efficiency

BRUSSELS, 4 December 2006 - Foreign ministers from the 56 OSCE participating States began their annual Ministerial Council today, and the focus was on tackling protracted "frozen" conflicts and further improving OSCE efficiency.

Opening the two-day gathering, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, said the reform decisions were more far-reaching than simply procedural or operational and stemmed from the mandate provided by last year's Ministerial Council in the Slovenian capital.

"After years of gloom and doubt, Ljubljana was the Council when the clouds parted. My hope is that Brussels could be the Council which sees a new departure for the Organization," said the Chairman-in-Office.

"So in that spirit we shall, I hope, start implementing the reform or more precisely reinforcing the effectiveness of an institution too often and unfairly criticized but which still requires, like all others, to undergo critical examination."

Minister De Gucht said Belgium had worked to redress the balance between the three dimensions of security - politico-military, economic-environmental and human, for example by making proposals on energy and transport. He also noted progress had been made on small arms and light weapons.

On the "frozen" conflicts, the Chairman-in-Office said although some progress had been made, in particular on Nagorno-Karabakh, it would be unwise to expect a solution in Brussels.

"However, I appeal to each and everyone of you and especially to the main protagonists to use the opportunity offered by this meeting of the main body of this Organization to relaunch the course of negotiations that are interrupted or blocked," Minister De Gucht said.

The Chairman-in-Office said the human dimension, a priority for the Belgian Chairmanship, remained a central task for the OSCE.

"There will be no peace or enduring security without due respect for human rights and freedoms," he told the ministers, praising the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights for submitting a balanced and accurate report on its work and recommending further developments.

The Ministerial Council brings together ministers or their representatives from all the participating States and also from the OSCE's 11 Asian and Mediterranean Partners. International organizations also observe the proceedings. The 56 participating States use the meeting to approve a series of decisions for action and possible declarations on a range of subjects.

The Secretary General of the OSCE, Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, told the opening session participating States needed to ensure they allocated enough resources for the Organization to carry out the tasks they assigned to it.