OSCE Ministerial Troika meeting in Lisbon discusses further anti-terrorism measures

LISBON, 22 January 2001 (OSCE) - The OSCE Ministerial Troika, which met yesterday in Lisbon, supported new measures to tackle the roots of terrorism, while at the same time urging its 55 participating States to safeguard traditional human rights and not to allow the proclamation of the fight against terrorism to be used as a cover for repressing legitimate dissent.

The three Ministers discussed proposals for a new Personal Representative who would co-ordinate the counter-terrorism Action Plan that was agreed in Bucharest on 4 December last year, as well as the follow-up programme of action adopted by delegates at the OSCE conference held in Bishkek, 10 days later, and other initiatives. In addition, the Troika heard that the new Portuguese Chairmanship hoped to organize a meeting between the Secretary Generals of the key organizations involved in the fight against terrorism. Portugal is also hoping to elaborate a draft proposal for a possible OSCE Charter on Terrorism.

The Troika, which assists and supports the OSCE Chairmanship during its one-year term, was chaired by the current office-holder, Portugual's Foreign Minister Jaime Gama. This first meeting of 2002 also included Jozias Van Aartsen, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, which is due to take over the Chair in 2003, and the State Secretary for Multilateral Affairs, Mihnea Ioan Motoc, representing Romania which held the Chair last year.

The Ministers also focused on current issues of concern to the OSCE across the region, among them recent developments in different areas, including the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (including Kosovo), the Caucasus, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and the Central Asian States.

They also agreed that the ending of the missions in Estonia and Latvia would not mean the end of interest by the Organization, but that the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) would continue to monitor the situation of the Russian minorities in those states.

The Ministers welcomed the news that the Organization was recruiting a Senior Police Adviser to strengthen and co-ordinate the work of the OSCE in areas of democratic police training and police monitoring. It would also move rapidly ahead with the hiring of a Co-ordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities, two positions that will act in support of the measures to tackle the basic conditions of deprivation and fear in which terrorism can flourish.

The Ministers also discussed other elements of the CiO's programme for this year, among them his proposals to obtain a greater balance and synergies by promoting the complementary relationship between the work of all three of the OSCE's dimensions of security - the human, politico-military and economic and environmental dimensions - which underpin its comprehensive approach.

Greater emphasis is to be placed on expanding the role of the economic and environmental dimension, especially in Central Asia, working more closely in co-ordination with other international organizations and financial institutions, such as the European Union, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Seeking to enhance the valuable role of the traditional human dimension - with its emphasis on promoting basic rights and freedoms, democratization and the rule of law - the Ministers praised and supported the work of the OSCE's specialized institutions, the ODIHR, the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media as well as the human dimension aspects of the HCNM, which has its primary role in conflict prevention.

They also acknowledged the respective contribution of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in this area.

Also participating in the meeting were the Secretary General of the OSCE, Jan Kubis, the Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Gérard Stoudmann, the High Commissioner on National Minorities, Rolf Ekeus. The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media was represented by Jutta Wolke, Senior Adviser. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was represented by its President, Adrian Severin.

The main programmes of Foreign Minister Gama for Portugal's period as Chairman-in-Office are outlined in his speech to the OSCE Permanent Council on 17 January, which can be found on the website: www.osce.org/cio.