Slovenia must learn about “so far neglected” regions as OSCE chair – paper
STA news agency
14 Jan 05
Ljubljana, 14 January: A paper suggests on Friday [14 January] that
Slovenia’s stint at the helm of the OSCE could boil down to “listening
missions”. Some of the country’s priorities indicate, however, that
its main guideline will not be silence, nodding, consensus seeking and
running the organization.
Dnevnik says that the relations between the USA and Russia are at a
freezing point after the “para-war” between the East and the West in
Ukraine’s presidential election, at least about who is to control the
region between Armenia and Kazakhstan.
The paper claims that Slovenia as the OSCE chair will not be able to
make an end to the superpowers flexing their muscles over which should
have a sway over the increasingly important geostrategical
regions. The solution lies in the Kremlin and the White House.
Slovenia has shown more decisiveness in the Kosovo issue. This zeal is
encouraged by the geographical vicinity and the fact that until
recently, Slovenia and Kosovo made part of a common state.
Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel therefore spoke with ease about Kosovo
as he met foreign reporters after outlining the priorities of
Slovenia’s presidency before the Permanent Council on Thursday.
But Dnevnik notes that the FM was at a loss when asked about the
chances for a reconciliation between Tbilisi and the breakaway
republic of Abkhazia after the presidential election re-run there. He
broke the embarrassing silence with an excuse, saying he had not
managed to study the election and that he was therefore not the right
person to answer the question.
What appeared to be an insignificant incident demonstrates the
broadness of the OSCE activity. More importantly, its shows the
chairman-in-office must have certain knowledge about a number of hot
spots, not just about the “Balkan hobby”, Dnevnik highlights.
“If Slovenia does not want the organization to be worse off as it
hands it over to Belgium in a year, its entire diplomatic network will
have to considerably improve its knowledge about the regions it has so
far neglected”.