OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: RESPONSE TO OCEEA REPORT

UNCLAS STATE 106797 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON OSCE PGOV PREL SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: RESPONSE TO OCEEA REPORT ¶1. (U) Post is authorized to present the following statement at the October 15, 2009 Permanent Council meeting in Vienna. Begin text: Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Mr. Svilanovic, the United States welcomes you back to the Permanent Council and thanks you for your comprehensive report. We commend the leadership you have provided as Coordinator. You have been an active Ambassador and advocate for the Second Dimension activities and have provided guidance to help the OSCE maximize its impact on issues of concern to participating States. The United States reiterates its full support for the work of the Office of the Economic and Environmental Coordinator. We commend your efforts to focus on a limited set of priorities, emphasizing links to security, and to continue work on core activities such as promoting good governance and fighting corruption and organized crime. We also believe recent work on energy security, such as the July conference in Bratislava, have been fruitful and we encourage continued efforts on this issue. We also commend your office,s work to ensure good contact and coordination between the field missions and Vienna. The activities conducted by your office and the field presences in the second dimension are frequently cross-dimensional and thus help strengthen not only economies but also democracy and security throughout the region. Economy and the environment, particularly where there are transnational aspects, are without doubt integral elements of comprehensive security in the OSCE area. We look forward to your views on the OSCE's role in Second Dimension issues during November Corfu Process meetings. This dialogue is also timely in the context of ongoing discussions about possible implementation of observations from the working group on the future orientation of the second dimension earlier this year. In the coming year we may also want to consider how we can ensure that the Office of the Coordinator, as well as the Economic and Environmental officers in the field, have the flexibility and the resources they need to successfully carry out their vital work, particularly given the broad range of Second Dimension issues that have been tasked by participating states over the years. Again, we thank Mr. Svilanovic for this report, and we thank him and his staff for their contributions to the OSCE,s activities throughout the region. Thank you Madame Chairwoman. CLINTON