OSCE Chairman meets U.S. Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Powell

WASHINGTON, D.C., 27 February 2004 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, discussed the priorities of the Bulgarian Chairmanship and a number of regional issues in talks with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The role of the OSCE in Central Asia and the Organization's efforts to help achieve a settlement of unresolved conflicts in the OSCE area were also on the agenda. The Chairman-in-Office said the OSCE aimed to work closely with the authorities in Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus on elections in those countries this year.

He thanked the U.S. authorities for their continued active support for the work of the OSCE.

"The United States has been tireless in upholding the human and democratic values that underlie the OSCE's comprehensive approach to security and generous in supplying financial and human resources in support of all of our activities," the Chairman-in-Office said.

Secretary Powell said: "The United States is a committed member of OSCE and we will do everything we can to support the Chairman-in-Office's work during the tour of duty that he is now undertaking."

The Secretary of State also expressed support for the OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism in Berlin on 28 and 29 April and said the U.S. would send a strong delegation.

In his meeting with Vice President Cheney, the Chairman-in-Office stressed the importance of the OSCE as a trans-Atlantic bridge and said the 55-nation security Organization had lost none of its relevance in the 21st century.