EU: KARABAKH PROBLEM MAY BE RESOLVED IN FORESEEABLE FUTURE WITH FULL ENGAGEMENT OF PARTIES INVOLVED
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.07.2007 14:19 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE and the European Union need to find a
complementary approach as they adapt to global challenges such as
migration, Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said in Vienna.
"In my capacity of President of the Council of the European Union I
would like to underline the importance of designing a complementary
agenda with the OSCE," Minister Amado told the OSCE’s Permanent
Council. "It is essential that we put together our respective
instruments and tools in order to face the challenges ahead."
He also said the European Union supported OSCE efforts to find a
peaceful solution to the protracted conflicts in Moldova, Georgia
and Nagorno Karabakh, and that a solution could be reached in
Nagorno-Karabakh in the foreseeable future with the full engagement
of the parties involved.
"Besides these regional issues, the European Union and the OSCE have
to adapt so as to face global challenges," the minister said. Portugal
took over the rotating presidency of the European Union from Germany
for the second half of this year.
He noted one major cause for concern for the Portuguese EU presidency
was Kosovo, and he was certain the OSCE would continue to play an
important role as it had elsewhere in Southeastern Europe.
Migration would be high on Portugal’s agenda, Minister Amado told the
Permanent Council, the OSCE’s main regular decision-making body. This
involved work, among things, on national minorities, human rights,
tolerance and non-discrimination.
"We count on the OSCE’s experience in this regard, since from its
outset the Organization has been helping in bridging gaps and in
bringing diversity together," Minister Amado said. Portugal would
welcome the OSCE joining it in the "Group of Friends" of the UN-backed
"Alliance of Civilizations" initiative launched by Spain and Turkey.
The minister said he believed the most serious challenges for common
security in the EU and OSCE regions were now in the Mediterranean
Basin, although work remained to be done to ensure the Balkans and
other parts of the OSCE area. He said transatlantic ties remain central
for stability in Europe and that Europe also has to strengthen its
strategic partnership with Russia.
"I see no better forum than the OSCE to try to bridge the remaining
and diminishing gaps," Minister Amado said.
He said the OSCE needed to continue to strengthen its internal
structure to work more efficiently and to make full use of improvements
agreed last year. An important goal is to establish a legal personality
for the OSCE, the OSCE communication unit reports.