OSCE ready to strengthen engagement with Afghanistan as part of international effort, says OSCE Secretary General at Bonn Conference

BONN, Germany, 5 December 2011 – The OSCE seeks to intensify its support for international and regional efforts to promote long-term security and stability in Afghanistan, said OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier at the International Afghanistan Conference in Bonn today.

“Our goal is to intensify the OSCE’s concrete support for international and regional efforts to promote a stable, independent, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan,” said Zannier at the conference.

Strengthening the OSCE’s engagement with Afghanistan would be high on the agenda of the Organization’s Ministerial Council to be held this Tuesday and Wednesday in Vilnius, he added.

Afghanistan has been an OSCE Partner for Co-operation since 2003. The OSCE, in particular through its field operation in Central Asia, has worked with Afghanistan to strengthen the country’s border, customs and law enforcement agencies. The Organization has also supported the last four national elections.

Zannier said the OSCE’s strategic approach would expand the scope of OSCE co-operation with Afghanistan to cover not only the politico-military aspects of security, but also economic and environmental and human dimensions; promote regional and bilateral co-operation, in particular with OSCE Central Asian states; and integrate the OSCE’s engagement with Afghanistan more closely with the wider assistance efforts of the international community under the UN’s lead.

He added that he hoped the OSCE foreign ministers in Vilnius would “build upon the momentum” generated through today’s event, which is focused on the long-term engagement of the international community with Afghanistan and builds on the Regional Conference on Afghanistan held in Istanbul in November.