OSCE valuable security provider, Albanian Foreign Minister says

VIENNA, 6 November 2008 - The OSCE is best-placed to promote democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, good governance and rule of law - all essential for security, Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha told the Organization's Permanent Council today.

"The OSCE continues to be an essential forum for discussion, co-operation and mutual understanding which has not exhausted its potential as a valuable security provider in the vast area over which the organization spans," he said.

As security inside nations is becoming increasingly important, the principles promoted by the OSCE takes on additional importance, the Minister said, adding that there was "still a long way to go until these values definitively prevail across the whole OSCE area".

He said work including the Organization's response to the Caucasus crisis demonstrated "that the Organization remains an alert and necessary pillar of Europe's security system. Albania strongly supports this approach".

Basha also praised the work carried out by the OSCE's Presence in Albania, saying it had supported the country in areas such as electoral reforms and a transfer of the civil registry to an electronic registry of the population.

He called 2008 "a turning point for the region of South-Eastern Europe" because of developments including in Kosovo, and NATO's membership invitations to Albania and Croatia.

"Never has the European perspective for the region been so clear and near to conclusion," he said. "The independence of Kosovo has stabilized the region. Despite the opposition it faced, it has contributed to peace and security."

Basha reiterated that Albania wants to host the OSCE Chairmanship in 2012.

"This chairmanship will be a demonstration not only of the increased contributing capacities of a country that has co-operated, that has been assisted and that has benefited from the OSCE, but also an additional possibility for the promotion of the various interests of the region itself," he said.