OSCE and EU need to adapt, find complementary approach to tackle global challenges, Portuguese Foreign Minister says

VIENNA, 12 July 2007 - The OSCE and the European Union need to find a complementary approach as they adapt to global challenges such as migration, Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said today.

"In my capacity of President of the Council of the European Union I would like to underline the importance of designing a complementary agenda with the OSCE," Minister Amado told the OSCE's Permanent Council. "It is essential that we put together our respective instruments and tools in order to face the challenges ahead."

He also said the European Union supported OSCE efforts to find a peaceful solution to the protracted conflicts in Moldova, Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and that a solution could be reached in Nagorno-Karabakh in the foreseeable future with the full engagement of the parties involved.

"Besides these regional issues, the European Union and the OSCE have to adapt so as to face global challenges," the minister said. Portugal took over the rotating presidency of the European Union from Germany for the second half of this year.

He noted one major cause for concern for the Portuguese EU presidency was Kosovo, and he was certain the OSCE would continue to play an important role as it had elsewhere in Southeastern Europe.

Migration would be high on Portugal's agenda, Minister Amado told the Permanent Council, the OSCE's main regular decision-making body. This involved work, among things, on national minorities, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination.

"We count on the OSCE's experience in this regard, since from its outset the Organization has been helping in bridging gaps and in bringing diversity together," Minister Amado said. Portugal would welcome the OSCE joining it in the "Group of Friends" of the UN-backed "Alliance of Civilizations" initiative launched by Spain and Turkey.

The minister said he believed the most serious challenges for common security in the EU and OSCE regions were now in the Mediterranean Basin, although work remained to be done to ensure the Balkans and other parts of the OSCE area. He said transatlantic ties remain central for stability in Europe and that Europe also has to strengthen its strategic partnership with Russia.

"I see no better forum than the OSCE to try to bridge the remaining and diminishing gaps," Minister Amado said.

He said the OSCE needed to continue to strengthen its internal structure to work more efficiently and to make full use of improvements agreed last year. An important goal is to establish a legal personality for the OSCE.