Co-operation with Asian partners focus of OSCE meeting in Mongolia

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia, 13 June 2007 - Leaders at an OSCE meeting ending here today discussed how the 56-country Organization and its five Asian partner countries can strengthen mutual co-operation to enhance global security.

The OSCE's Asian Partners for Co-operation are: Afghanistan, Japan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea and Thailand. The Organization also has six Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation.

"The Spanish Chairmanship has made a point to recognize that the OSCE does not exist in isolation within its immediate surroundings," Ambassador Jose Angel Lopez Jorrin, Head of the Task Force for the Spanish 2007 OSCE Chairmanship, told participants at the two-day meeting.

"In today's interconnected world, the security of the OSCE must sink its roots not only within its own space, but also further afield."

One session at the meeting was devoted to economic and environmental concerns, which form one of the three OSCE security dimensions along with politico-military matters and human rights.

OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut said the session's themes of land degradation, soil contamination and water management - which also were the focus of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum - were relevant.

"These problems are affecting the lives of common people, causing health, economic and migration problems, and, if the current situation persists, could lead to local and regional conflicts," he said.

The discussion in Vienna has recently focused on how to assist the Central Asian participating States. This would also concern the Asian Partners, especially Afghanistan since it shares a long border with three of them, the Secretary General added.