OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: LOOKING TO ATHENS

UNCLAS STATE 120799

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL OSCE
SUBJECT: OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL: LOOKING TO ATHENS


1. (U) Post is authorized to deliver the following statement
at the November 24, 2009, meeting of the OSCE Permanent
Council in Vienna.

Begin text:

Thank you, Madam Chair.

The United States is deeply committed to this organization,
and to the principles and commitments enshrined in the
Helsinki Final Act and other jointly agreed documents. We
value the OSCE,s comprehensive concept of security, and
believe it is precisely this multi-dimensional approach that
makes the OSCE an essential element of our security
architecture.

At our Ministerial in Athens, we hope to see a reaffirmation
of our existing commitments, particularly those relating to
the promotion of democracy, human rights, and fundamental
freedoms. Fulfilling our commitments in these areas is
critical to long-term peace and prosperity across the OSCE
region. There is a direct link between individual and
inter-state security.

We hope also to reach agreement on sustaining the Corfu
Process dialogue. As the most inclusive security
organization in Europe and Eurasia, the OSCE clearly is the
best place for these discussions. Our dialogue thus far has
shown that the full implementation of existing commitments
across the three dimensions would bring about a marked
improvement in security. It is time now to consider
practical ways of better implementing our commitments, and of
strengthening the OSCE,s capacity to exercise its core
crisis prevention and conflict resolution mandate,
particularly in light of the recent return of military
conflict to the OSCE region.

In future Corfu Process discussions, we would like to see an
emphasis on the key areas identified from our last ten weeks
of discussions, with an eye to making concrete progress on
improving implementation of OSCE commitments in all three
dimensions; the strengthening of democracy and the rule of
law; the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
the improvement of the OSCE,s conflict prevention and
resolution capabilities; the intensification of efforts to
address transnational threats and cross-dimensional
challenges; and ways to create or more effectively use
existing OSCE mechanisms and instruments across the
organization,s three dimensions.

We firmly believe additional dialogue and practical
approaches are needed, and would welcome at the Athens
Ministerial a declaration and decision on the continuation of
the Corfu process. Before committing to hold a high-level
meeting, though, the participating States need to work
together, through the Corfu Process and in other OSCE venues,
to achieve some concrete results in each of the three
dimensions. We believe that only then should the
participating States consider the question of the timing of
such a meeting. We would welcome an overall political
declaration that forcefully addresses key issues, especially
where key principles and values are at stake.

Indeed, no European security regime can be truly effective
unless it is based on shared principles and values. In our
founding documents, we jointly committed to these values,
including respect for democracy, human rights, and
fundamental freedoms, territorial integrity, and the right of
sovereign states to determine their own security
arrangements. The August 2008 war in Georgia and the
persistence of unresolved conflicts in the OSCE region
demonstrate that we clearly have work to do. In Athens, we
look forward, not only to reaffirm our existing commitments,
but to look for ways to strengthen and improve our
implementation of them.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

END TEXT
CLINTON