Eighth OSCE Ministerial Council ends in Vienna

VIENNA, 28 November 2000 - The Eighth OSCE Ministerial Council ended in Vienna today with the adoption of two documents: the Vienna Declaration on the role of the OSCE in South-Eastern Europe and a decision on enhancing the OSCE's efforts to combat trafficking in human beings. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, also gave a statement to the meeting, summarizing the current issues of concern to the OSCE.

After the meeting, Ms. Ferrero-Waldner said that she was both pleased and discouraged with the results of the Vienna Ministerial Council Meeting. She characterized it as an important meeting, where Foreign Ministers of OSCE participating States had an opportunity to talk about their concerns. Over 60 bilateral meetings were held during the two days of the Ministerial Council. It was significant that each and every delegation recommitted itself to the ideals, principles and commitments of the OSCE.

The Chairperson-in-Office also emphasized the symbolic importance of having the new President of Yugoslavia at this meeting: "His ceremonial signing of the landmark OSCE documents with all the OSCE Ministers and senior officials standing behind him demonstrates the new Government's will to embrace democracy. It is also a sign of real prospects for peace and progress in South-Eastern Europe."

In this context, Ms. Ferrero-Waldner saw the adoption of the Vienna Declaration on the role of the OSCE in South-Eastern Europe as a sign of the firm commitment of the OSCE to support the stabilization of this region.

The Chairperson-in-Office regretted however that no consensus could be reached on a ministerial declaration encompassing the whole range of issues of concern to the OSCE. "Negotiators worked day and night to find language that would bring us a step forward. Unfortunately, disputes remained over what these paragraphs should contain," she said. However, she emphasized that the OSCE Missions would continue to work on the ground to assist in the resolution of the so-called "frozen conflicts". On Chechnya, the Chairperson-in-Office mentioned that she was encouraged by her meeting with the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, and that she expected the redeployment of the OSCE Assistance Group in Moscow back to Chechnya.