EU supports the OSCE's work on elections, Kosovo, Slovene Foreign Minister says

VIENNA, 24 January 2008 - The European Union fully supports the work of the OSCE, and calls on the participating States to enable the Organization to continue its efforts in Kosovo and its election monitoring activities, Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel told the OSCE Permanent Council today.

Minister Rupel, whose country holds the EU presidency, emphasized that the two organizations, although distinct, are united in their values, goals and tasks.

"Despite the different political and historical backgrounds which individual OSCE participating States have, the OSCE has always been a forum where states were able to overcome their differences on the basis of dialogue, common values and the overwhelming sense of common responsibility," he said.

He noted that Kosovo remained as much a concern today as in 2005, when Slovenia held the OSCE's Chairmanship and Minister Rupel was the Organization's Chairman-in-Office.

"The continued presence of the OSCE in the key areas of human rights monitoring, institution- and capacity-building and the rule of law is as relevant now as ever," he said, adding that the EU was "firmly convinced" that the Organization should continue its important work in Kosovo.

Minister Rupel also said the EU strongly supports the OSCE's election-observation work and called on all OSCE participating States to enable the Organization's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights "to observe their elections without restriction, in accordance with established practice and in line with the spirit of their commitments."

Minister Rupel also expressed the EU's appreciation for the OSCE's efforts aimed at resolving the frozen conflicts in Transdniestra, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and said it welcomed the Organization's plans to help secure the border between Afghanistan and neighbouring OSCE participating States.

Central Asia is a priority for both the EU and the OSCE, and Minister Rupel said that the OSCE could and should put more focus on that region. "We hope that both the EU and the OSCE will succeed in their common efforts to assist and foster development in the region," he added.

The EU's 27 countries make up a large part of the OSCE's 56 participating States, making the Union an important part of the Organization, Minister Rupel said. "At the same time, the EU is also a valuable partner of the OSCE since both share many common goals."

The Permanent Council is the OSCE's main regular decision-making body of the Organization. It convenes weekly in Vienna to discuss developments in the OSCE area and to make appropriate decisions.