Greek Alternate Foreign Minister calls for strengthened mechanisms for tackling challenges in OSCE area

VIENNA, 6 November 2009. The Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Greek Alternate Minister for Foreign Affairs Dimitris P. Droutsas, stressed today the need for practical results on the ground in the OSCE's work. 

Addressing a special session of the Permanent Council, Minister Droutsas emphasized the need to reconfirm the OSCE acquis of values and commitments, review the state of play of European security and renovate the OSCE's mechanisms to deal with challenges in the framework of the Corfu Process - the OSCE-anchored dialogue on the future of the European security.

Looking ahead to the OSCE Ministerial Council in Athens on 1-2 December, Droutsas said the meeting would help identify themes and priorities for discussions next year, and to set clear and achievable objectives. He emphasized that those discussions "should not serve as a pretext for endless and aimless deliberation without practical results on the ground" and stressed the need for practical work to reinforce OSCE mechanisms and enhance the Organization's support to its participating States.

"It is time to take stock. We need to review the tools we have built, learn to use them more effectively, and mobilize all reserves of political will. The implementation of existing commitments in good faith by all the participating States of the OSCE is central to our efforts to restore confidence and trust and to work together in confronting the existing challenges," Droutsas said. "In this sense, the Corfu Process will be successful if at the end of it a more secure and stable Europe will emerge through concrete progress on key security challenges."

He characterised the difficulties concerning the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty as "deeply worrying", and said efforts should aim at the prompt entry into force of the Adapted CFE Treaty.

Droutsas said the peaceful resolution of protracted conflicts remained one of the OSCE priorities and noted that although each conflict is unique and no uniform solutions exist, the universal principles enshrined in the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act should serve as a compass for forming a tailor-made solution to each conflict. The Helsinki Final Act of 1975 laid the foundation for what is today the OSCE.

He reiterated Greece's commitment to seeking "a meaningful, cross-dimensional OSCE presence" in Georgia following the events of August 2008 and the closure of the Mission to Georgia earlier this year because of a lack of consensus on renewing its mandate.

The Permanent Council is one of the OSCE's decision-making bodies. It convenes weekly in Vienna to discuss developments in the OSCE area and to make appropriate decisions.