OSCE Chairman urges UN Security Council members to use influence to help end "frozen" conflicts

NEW YORK, 4 March 2005 - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, urged Permanent Members of the UN Security Council on Friday to use their influence to help end some long-standing conflicts in the OSCE region.

Addressing the Security Council in New York, he said there were signs that conflicts in parts of Moldova and Georgia and in Nagorno-Karabakh, sometimes referred to as "frozen", were starting to thaw.

"It is difficult for inter-state organizations to deal with non-state actors, even if - as in some cases - they are de facto authorities," Minister Rupel said.

"There are times when the leverage of powerful states - including Permanent Members of this Council - can be crucial. I urge you to exert that pressure in the context of OSCE mediation efforts to help resolve these long-standing conflicts."

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office said he had noted with interest the report of the UN High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. The OSCE had gone through a similar process two years ago which resulted in its Strategy to Address Threats to Security and Stability in the Twenty-first Century.

"Through the implementation of this Strategy, I believe that the OSCE can take on some of the UN`s burden in the OSCE area," he said.

"As the UN Panel noted, the Security Council`s ability to more proactively prevent and respond to threats could be strengthened by making fuller and more productive use of regional organizations. The OSCE is well positioned and well-equipped to do so."

The Chairman-in-Office said that in addressing new threats to security, the bottom line for the OSCE was upholding the rule of law.

"For example, we have to be sure that efforts to combat terrorism are not done in a way that violates human rights. And that border guards learn sophisticated techniques and a proper code of conduct. And that human trafficking is tackled by effective investigation, law enforcement and prosecution."

He singled out policing as a good example of the type of hands-on work that the OSCE was doing effectively to address the needs of participating States.

"Good policing has a vital role to play in the prevention of conflict, the preservation of social stability during political crises and the post-conflict rehabilitation of societies," Minister Rupel said.

"No other international organization currently possesses the potential to strengthen long-term law enforcement capacity- and institution-building in the OSCE region in the States most susceptible to crime, corruption and human rights violations."