"OSCE is not a talking shop" says Secretary General

VIENNA, 3 June 2002 - "The OSCE's work makes a practical difference to the lives of ordinary people in troubled areas", said the Secretary General of the Organization, Jan Kubis, dismissing suggestions by some media commentators calling the 55-nation Organization as a "talking shop".

He took issue with The Economist magazine's use of this phrase in a letter to the magazine which was published in its 1 June edition. Following is the text of his letter:

"The OSCE in action

SIR - Your dismissal of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe as a "talking shop" is neither accurate nor fair ("Vladimir Putin's long, hard haul", May 18th). The OSCE is the world's largest regional security organisation with 55 participating States from Europe, Central Asia and North America. The organisation works with governments and civil society in a practical way to promote security and co-operation. It has around 4,000 staff in 19 field missions in places as diverse as Bosnia, Georgia and Tajikistan. Work on the ground involves helping to build civil society and other activities, often specific - everything from organising and supervising elections to training police officers and prison guards, as well as defending free media and tolerance in inter-ethnic relations.

The OSCE has deployed hundreds of monitors from participating states at elections across the region through its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Other OSCE institutions are engaged in similar pragmatic activities. Some 85 percent of the annual budget is spent on work of this nature, making a practical difference to the lives of ordinary people in troubled areas - hardly the work of a mere talking shop.

JAN KUBIS, Secretary-general

OSCE, Vienna"