Scoop, New Zealand
Dec 8 2004

Powell Remarks to OSCE Ministerial Meeting

Speech: US State Department

Remarks to the Ministerial Meeting of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe
Secretary Colin L. Powell
NDK Conference Site
Sofia, Bulgaria
December 7, 2004

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I join my colleagues in thanking
you, your government and the Bulgarian people for so graciously
hosting us and for serving so successfully as our Chairman-in-Office.
The United States looks forward to close cooperation with next year’s
Chairman-in-Office, our distinguished colleague who we are very
pleased to see here today from Slovenia Dimitrij Rupel. All the best
to you, Dimitrij..

Friends: The Helsinki process has been and remains a key catalyst for
peaceful, democratic change. My personal experience with the Helsinki
process dates from 1990, when as Chairman of the American Joint
Chiefs of Staff I represented the United States at the first Military
Doctrine seminar, which was held in the Hall of the Congress in
Vienna. And it was a fascinating moment for me to sit with all of the
military leaders from throughout Europe–NATO, the Warsaw Pact and
all of the other non-aligned nations of Europe–for the first time. A
new era of hope had just dawned for a Europe whole, free and at
peace.
We can be proud of our accomplishments, but we also know that
Helsinki’s great promise has yet to be realized in many important
areas.

Within our OSCE community, incidents of anti-Semitism, racism, hate
crimes and discrimination against Muslims are on the rise. We must
renew our shared determination to combat racial and ethnic hatred,
xenophobia and discrimination in all participating states.

In parts of our OSCE community, frozen conflicts still remain frozen
fifteen years after the end of the Cold War. In the months since our
last ministerial meeting, there has been little headway made toward
resolution of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh or in breakaway
regions of Moldova and Georgia. A new push from the OSCE and by the
leaders of participating states is needed.

Russia’s commitments to withdraw its military forces from Moldova,
and to agree with Georgia on the duration of the Russian military
presence there, remain unfulfilled. A core principle of the CFE
Treaty is host country agreement to the stationing of forces. The
United States remains committed to moving ahead with ratification of
the Adapted CFE Treaty, but we will only do so after all the Istanbul
commitments on Georgia and Moldova have been met. And we stand ready
to assist with reasonable costs associated with the implementation of
those commitments.

We are closely following events in Ukraine, and heartened by efforts
to ensure an outcome that reflects the will of the Ukrainian people
and respects the rule of law. The international facilitators have
provided valuable assistance. What is important now is for all sides
to cooperate fully in the implementation of the December 3 decision
of the Supreme Court.

All of us in the OSCE community have an interest in a swift, peaceful
outcome through a democratic process. The Government of Ukraine
expects the OSCE to observe the re-running of the second round, and
we urge other participating states to join the United States in
providing the OSCE with the resources, both fiscal and manpower
resources, to carry out this mission.

At the same time, we continue to be concerned by the unfulfilled
promises of democracy and respect for fundamental freedoms in some
OSCE states. We remain concerned about developments in Russia, most
notably those affecting freedom of the press and the rule of law.
Belarus remains an egregious example of a participating state failing
to live up to its OSCE commitments on human rights, democracy and the
rule of law.

Some countries have recently argued that the OSCE’s field work
constitutes interference in internal affairs, that the OSCE has
“double standards,” and that the OSCE has concentrated its efforts in
the former Soviet republics and has done it for political reasons. I
categorically disagree. All OSCE participating states signed up to
the proposition that fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of
law are of legitimate concern to us all.

OSCE’s 17 field missions are among its most important assets. The
missions are working for democracy, human rights and conflict
resolution, and, they’re working from the Balkans to Central Asia. In
Georgia, the OSCE’s Border Monitoring Operation is contributing to
stability on a sensitive border, and its mandate should be extended
for another year. We all need to make sure that the missions have the
support and the resources necessary to do their jobs.

For our part, the United States takes seriously its commitments to
respect human rights, practice democratic government and uphold the
rule of law. We have sought to lead by example with transparency and
openness. At the OSCE’s annual human dimension meeting, we hosted a
side event on the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq. These
abuses were contrary to U.S. law and policy, and the United States
chose to organize this event to show the steps being taken to
investigate and hold accountable those responsible.

The United States bases its faith in the OSCE’s future not just on
past successes, but on the significant contributions this pioneering
organization is making today. In the past twelve months alone, the
record has been impressive. The OSCE and its Parliamentary Assembly
undertook a Herculean effort to mobilize swiftly to observe and
facilitate two seminal national elections in Georgia. And, in
response to a request for help from Afghanistan, the OSCE sent its
first election assistance team outside Europe and Eurasia. OSCE’s was
the leading voice from Kabul that reassured the world that the
outcome of the election truly reflected the choice of the Afghan
people. The OSCE’s landmark work in fighting intolerance has become
the standard by which other organizations’ efforts are measured. And
the OSCE has adopted concrete steps to combat international terrorism
and trafficking in persons.

The United States always welcomes suggestions for ways to further
strengthen the OSCE. We are open to increasing the OSCE’s activities
to promote security and economic development, but not at the expense
of the OSCE’s core democracy and human rights work.

Here in Sofia, the OSCE must continue to advance an active and
ambitious agenda. The United States strongly supports the creation of
special representatives to address anti-Semitism, racism and
discrimination, and anti-Muslim sentiment. We adopted new measures to
fight corruption. And the OSCE would take an important step forward
by responding positively to requests from the Palestinian Authority
and from Iraq for election observers.

Mr. Chairman, Colleagues, I am confident that the OSCE will rise to
the challenges of a changing Europe and a changing world. I am also
confident that this valuable organization will continue to serve as a
major force for human dignity, democracy, prosperity and security and
will do so in the months and years to come and will do so
successfully.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

2004/1314

[End]

Released on December 7, 2004