FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN EXPLAINS WHY ARMENIA SIGNED OSCE CRITICIZING
STATEMENT

YEREVAN, JULY 14, ARMENPRESS: In response to an Armenpress question
why Armenia decided to join Russia and eight other ex-Soviet states in
accusingthe Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
of unjustly meddling in their internal affairs and why Azerbaijan
refused to sign it and whether it will not impede the OSCE’s efforts
to regulate the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, Hamlet Gasparian, a
spokesman for the Armenian foreign affairs ministry, said Armenia like
other signatories has its own reservations regarding the activity of
the OSCE in general and some of its bodies, in particular. He said
these reservations did not result in one day and came as the public
manifestation of unresolved problems that have been piled up over the
years and therefore they should not be given a special attention, and
neither a novelty should be sought in the statement.

He said that the nine CIS member countries, which signed the
statement and which are also full members of the OSCE, listed their
positions on such issues as, for example, the explicit violation of
the balance between the so-called “three dimensions” of the OSCE , not
objective and frequently unconstructive assessments of the OSCE
monitoring missions, use of double standards, selected criticism of
some countries and ignoring issues in some others. “These concerns
were at the bottom of the statement,” he said.

The spokesman said the issues raised in the statement were not new.
According to him, they are of conceptual character and concern largely
the reform inside the OSCE. He said part of these issues were raised
by Armenian and other CIS member countries delegations before the OSCE
during discussions on improvement of its work and in other
bodies. “The signatories of the statement are full members of the OSCE
and have the right to express their opinions with regard to this or
that aspect of the OSCE’s activity for the sake of its improvement,”
he said.

The spokesman said that Armenia’s decision to sign the statement
does not mean that Armenia is not committed to responsibilities it
assumed within the frameworks of the OSCE. “Armenia remains committed
to all its obligations and is dedicated to this organization’s values,
and defends the principle of solidarity among all its members,” he
said.

According to the spokesman, there is a necessity that all members
of the OSCE try to join efforts for seeking ways to correct the
violation of the balance within it and the best way is to reform it
that should be the result of an impartial analysis of its work and a
frank dialogue.

“As to speculations that it can have a negative impact on the
Nagorno Karabagh conflict regulation process, it should be noted that
the issues raised in it have no relations at all to the regulation
process, neither to the work of the OSCE Minsk group and its
co-chairmen,” he said.

He said also that according to Azerbaijani mass media, Azerbaijan’s
decision not to join other ex-Soviet states was not because of its
approvalof the OSCE work, as it often criticized harshly the Minsk
group, but because other CIS countries refused to incorporate into its
text some wordings, proposed by Azerbaijan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress