Reform and co-operation key to OSCE success, EU Council President says

VIENNA, 14 July 2004 - Enhanced co-operation between the European Union and the OSCE in fighting terrorism and trafficking and promoting tolerance, as well as over regional issues and reform of the Organization, were raised today in an address to the OSCE Permanent Council by Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot.

The President of the EU Council of Ministers said "the three Ts" - terrorism, trafficking and tolerance - were part of the same struggle, "an epic struggle to defend fundamental freedoms and respect for human rights."

Both the EU and the OSCE had drawn up security strategies to guide them in dealing with the unprecedented threats that now confronted them, which were "global in scope and potentially catastrophic in outcome."

"The terrorist attacks in Madrid on 11 March this year destroyed any lingering illusions some Europeans have had that Europe would be safe from terrorism," the Foreign Minister said.

"It is our job to work together in countering the threats and challenges that we and our children face and to do so with great determination and focus. Clearly, both the EU's security strategy and the OSCE's threats and challenges strategy will be important frameworks for action in the coming years."

Referring to the recent expansion of the European Union, he said that in the new EU of 25 members, interest was increasing in "our new neighbours, which are also the focus of interest of the OSCE."

Many regional issues affecting these areas still required close co-operation between the EU and the OSCE.

Minister Bot, who discussed Transdniestria earlier this week with the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Bulgarian Foreign Minster Solomon Passy, said the EU supported OSCE efforts to achieve a negotiated political settlement in Moldova. He also referred to concerns over South Ossetia in Georgia and to recent developments in Kosovo.

Minister Bot said the OSCE had to implement reforms if it was to remain relevant for its members. The EU saw the recent declaration by CIS states as an invitation for an in-depth exchange on the need for reform, while taking into account the OSCE's existing assets. These included "the unique three-dimensional interplay between norms and standards, the institutions which formulate them and the missions that help to implement them."

The EU was fully prepared to enter into an open discussion on the Organization's performance and the need for reforms and looked forward to specific proposals for reform from the CIS countries, Minister Bot said.

On the position of the Secretary General of the OSCE, he added: "I believe that the OSCE and its participating States would benefit if the position and the role were strengthened."