Statement at the Informal OSCE Ministerial Meeting

The Minister’s statement was based on some of the following points
(must be checked against delivery).

 

• Dear Chair-in-Office, let me first of all thank you for organising this Informal OSCE Ministerial Meeting here in beautiful Corfu, providing an opportunity to further discuss the future of European Security. I am also grateful to you and your team for having prepared a very useful reflection paper with interesting ideas on how to improve our “common, indivisible and comprehensive security”.

 

• Europe has seen significant political and social changes since Helsinki in 1975. The Cold War divisions have disappeared. There has been substantial progress in establishing democratic institutions and market economies. The OSCE and other institutions have contributed significantly to this.

 

• At the same time new threats to international security and stability have emerged. The OSCE, the EU, NATO and other organisations like the Council of Europe have adapted well to the new situation. They have proven to be flexible and able to continue to contribute to European Security. There is therefore no need to change the architecture.

 

• Building on what has already been achieved Norway welcomes a dialogue on how these various institutions can serve us even better in providing security and prosperity for all.

 

• Trust is not built on resolutions but on actual experience. Nevertheless, the resolutions are there to guide our actions. The most important step towards strengthened security would therefore be a firm commitment by all states to the standards and political commitments we have signed up to since 1975.

 

• The OSCE’s broad membership and comprehensive approach to security are two of its hallmarks and greatest strengths. New threats from terrorism, trafficking and climate change make a one-dimensional approach even less appropriate than before. A broad perspective is more needed than ever, and a strengthened political dialogue must be at its core.

 

• The OSCE has a well-earned reputation for dealing with the politico-military aspects of security. Its work on disarmament, arms control and confidence- and security-building measures plays an important part in fostering security.

 

• The CFE Treaty is a cornerstone of European security. Through this treaty Europe has achieved restraint and predictability and increased security for member states. Ten years have passed since the Adapted CFE was agreed on in Istanbul, and more than one year since the Russian Federation suspended its obligations under the treaty in 2007. This situation cannot continue without negative consequences for Europe as a whole. We must renew our efforts to find a way forward.

 

• We should also look at our capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts. Allow me to stress one point of crucial importance in this regard. When we look at the root causes of most protracted conflicts, they are often linked to national minorities. We saw this demonstrated recently, when one of these conflicts flared up and escalated into a full-blown war between two participating States. How minorities are treated by their own authorities and their “kin-state” authorities, and in particular how they are dealt with in inter-state relations, often has security implications.

 

• The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities has provided excellent guidelines which – if fully implemented – may prevent wars and help defuse conflicts. This is an area where we could go further, perhaps by turning the guidelines into a legally binding instrument.

 

• The OSCE’s activities in the economic and environmental dimension should reflect the OSCE’s role as a comprehensive security organisation. In times of global financial downturn, nobody can deny the link between economic and social development and security.

 

• In the human dimension we have developed comprehensive standards and commitments because we realise that human rights and democracy are inseparable from security. That is why all OSCE participating States have agreed, for example in the 1991 Moscow document, that commitments undertaken in the human dimension are matters of legitimate concern to all participating States.

 

• The OSCE must be the “anchor” and the main forum for our discussion. Other organisations should play their parts in their various areas of competence. But the OSCE must be the main forum for discussions, precisely because of its membership, mandate and competence. A more structured dialogue is now needed. We could make use of a special working group and other parts of our framework in Vienna. This will allow concrete work to be done before we meet again in Athens. – Thank you.