OSCE Chairman-in-Office pledges closer co-operation with NATO

BRUSSELS, 21 January 2004 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, pledged to strengthen co-operation with NATO at a meeting with the Alliance's new Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Wednesday.

On his first visit to NATO headquarters since he took over the OSCE Chairmanship in January, Minister Passy also addressed a meeting of the North Atlantic Council. He said practical co-operation in the field would remain the driving force in the relationship between the OSCE and NATO.

The OSCE would also work closely with the European Union, the United Nations and other international actors.

Bulgaria would stress continuity in the work of the Chairmanship, building on the valuable achievements of Mr. de Hoop Scheffer during his Chairmanship of the OSCE in 2003. Bulgaria had played an active role in developing a recent NATO document on enhancing relations with the OSCE and would work on its implementation.

The focus for the Chairmanship in 2004 would be on implementing existing OSCE commitments, including those agreed at the OSCE foreign ministers' meeting in Maastricht last month, such as the Strategy to Address Threats to Security and Stability in the 21st Century.

"In the fight against terrorism, the efforts of NATO and the OSCE are mutually reinforcing," the Chairman-in-Office said. "The OSCE has set up a framework for comprehensive action, focusing among other things on border security and management, policing, anti-trafficking and countering the financing of terrorism."

He said the Bulgarian Chairmanship would like to see the excellent existing co-operation between the OSCE and NATO in the Balkans extended into other areas, such as the South Caucasus and Central Asia, a view echoed by many NATO ambassadors at the North Atlantic Council meeting.

Assisting Georgia with sustainable political reform would be a high priority for the Chairmanship in 2004. "Increased information sharing and project assessment with the Alliance will, in my view, make the OSCE contribution to the overall political process in Georgia much more effective", the Chairman-in-Office said.

The Chairmanship was concerned about the present pause in negotiations on finding a solution to the Transdniestrian conflict. It will host a meeting of mediators in Sofia at the end of January, which it hopes will make it possible to resume talks in the five-sided format.

The Chairman-in-Office said Central Asia was an important region which required intensive work by the OSCE in areas such as the fight against terrorism, organized crime and trafficking in arms, drugs and human beings, as well as environmental problems.

"Building up civil societies in all five Central Asian states, I believe, has to be another priority for the OSCE," Minister Passy added, noting that education would be a high on the agenda for the Bulgarian Chairmanship.

Noting the interest from many NATO ambassadors in the OSCE's playing a role in supporting Afghanistan - an OSCE Partner for Co-operation - Minister Passy said: "The OSCE has considerable expertise in building democratic institutions and monitoring elections. I believe this expertise might be shared with Afghanistan, provided a consensus can be found."