OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: RESPONSE TO THE PRESIDENT

UNCLAS STATE 119321

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL OSCE
SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: RESPONSE TO THE PRESIDENT
OF THE OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY, JOAO SOARES


1. (U) Post is authorized to present the following statement
at the November 19 Permanent Council meeting in Vienna.

Begin text:

Thank you, Madam Chair.

The United States warmly welcomes President Soares back to
the Permanent Council and thanks him for his insightful
report.

The Parliamentary Assembly continues to fulfill important
roles in connecting the work we do here in Vienna with our
respective countries' elected representatives, promoting
accountability within OSCE's institutions, and addressing
crucial concerns affecting the participating States through
parliamentary dialogue.

We note the positive work being done by the Parliamentary
Assembly across the region: to address protracted conflicts;
to promote democratic governance, including election
assistance to participating States; and to respond to new
challenges in connection with migration, energy security and
climate change.

We are proud of that two of the PA's officers and two of its
special representatives come from the United States. The PA
has been a leader on important initiatives such as combating
trafficking in human beings and in promoting cooperation on
security concerns with the Mediterranean Partners. The
Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, Senator Ben Cardin, is a
Vice President of the PA. His Co-Chairman, U.S.
Representative Alcee Hastings, is a former President of the
Parliamentary Assembly and its current, very engaged, Special
Representative on Mediterranean Affairs. And Representative
Robert Aderholt serves as the Vice Chair of the Third
Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian
Questions.

The PA's ongoing work in the Caucasus, South-Eastern Europe,
Central Asia and Eastern Europe is aimed at furthering
security, human rights, and democratic governance.

Through its meetings, seminars, and special missions, the PA
contributes to efforts to address critical concerns in the
region by developing proposals relevant for consideration by
the Ministerial Council. We urge the Permanent Council to
consider adopting some of the specific commitments agreed
upon during last July's Annual Meeting in Vilnius.

We also would like to underscore the importance of
cooperation between the Parliamentary Assembly and the Office
of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in election
observation activities. The participating States have given
the two institutions mandates to undertake election
observation together, though with somewhat different roles
that we view as mutually reinforcing and complementary, and
not in competition. We are pleased to note the improvement
in cooperation during this past year, which helps ensure that
OSCE's election work will continue to set the gold standard
of election support in the world. The United States attaches
great value to OSCE's election monitoring, which in our view
is most effective when the PA and ODIHR work together.

We thank the Chair in Office for the tireless efforts to
further this cooperation and build a true spirit of
partnership between the two institutions, which we know is
also supported by the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

Finally, we note President Soares's interest in an OSCE
Summit next year. We would also note that the last time we
had a summit in 1999, we had agreements on CFE, a Charter on
European Security, and the Vienna Document. We look forward
to working hard with all those in support of a summit to make
enough progress in all three dimensions so that we have
reason to consider a high-level meeting.

President Soares, we commend you and the Parliamentary
Assembly for your contributions to advancing security, human
rights, and democratic governance throughout the region.

Thank you Madam Chair.

END TEXT
CLINTON