Serbian Foreign Minister says OSCE provides unique forum in time of crisis

VIENNA, 10 September 2008 - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told the OSCE today that recent developments in Europe had damaged the fabric of security and co-operation, but there was still time to restore trust across the region.

Addressing the OSCE's Permanent Council, Jeremic said Serbia had opted for a peaceful and diplomatic approach to Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). The result had been that a vast majority of UN member states had refrained from recognizing Kosovo's UDI.

"The fabric of security and co-operation in Europe has been damaged. The dominos are starting to fall," he said noting that in his previous speech at the Permanent Council he had expressed concerns about partitioning sovereign states. "But there is still time to prevent worst of these [dominos] from spinning beyond our control."

The minister added that the zero-sum, adversarial approach to international relations was re-gaining strength and had begun to re-surface in the OSCE region. But, he said: "The OSCE represents a unique forum at once pan-European and Trans-Atlantic, in which participating States can define and explain their positions in the context of the broader European security agenda."

The new Serbian Government's priority is the accelerated march toward full European Union membership, together with the consolidation of regional peace and stability, the Minister said.

"The reason is elementary: The Republic of Serbia has strong faith in the power of the 21st century values of Europe, and in their ability to reconcile former rivals and adversaries."

The Minister asked the Finnish Chairmanship to call for new nominations for the post of Head of Mission to the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.