More co-operation and constructive spirit needed – OSCE Chair at UN General Assembly in New York

NEW YORK, 29 September 2019 – Attending the high-level week of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Foreign and European Minister of Slovakia, Miroslav Lajčák, held  bilateral meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, North Macedonia, and the Russian Federation, as well as the OSCE Minsk-Group Co-Chairs and his Special Representative on Combatting Anti-Semitism Rabbi Andrew Baker, among others. With his counterparts, he spoke about the current situation in the OSCE region, the Slovak OSCE Chairmanship, and expectations for the Ministerial Council in December.

“I am pleased to see small, incremental, but important, signs of progress in different parts of the OSCE region, which give us hope for the future. It shows that positive change is always possible if we engage in dialogue,” Lajčák said, reflecting on ongoing efforts of the Slovak 2019 OSCE Chairmanship to foster progress in the prevention and resolution of conflict on the margins of his discussions.

“The various topics discussed here at the UN General Assembly – the epicentre of diplomacy - have shown that there are more countries who want to work together than those focused on a narrow national agenda”, Lajčák stressed. “But,” he continued, “there is a clear sense that time is running out. If we keep doing what we are currently doing, we will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We will not be able to hand the planet over to our children in as good as – or better – a condition than we, ourselves, inherited it. And we will not move from conflict management to conflict prevention. There is still time to do all of this – but only if we act quickly, and act together.”

Looking ahead, towards the OSCE Ministerial Council in December, he added that he hopes for a constructive and cooperative spirit to move the needle for all people in the OSCE region.

The Chairperson also hosted a Troika, in which representatives of both Albania and Italy representing the incoming and outgoing OSCE Chairs, respectively, as well as OSCE Secretary-General, Thomas Greminger, participated. They discussed opportunities to enhance the Troika co-operation, and the challenges and opportunities of holding a chairmanship, along with the way ahead for the OSCE as the world’s largest security organization under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter.