Russia & CIS General Newswire
November 30, 2007 Friday 2:20 PM MSK
Concern with some countries’ attitude to Kazakh presidency of OSCE –
Lavrov
MADRID Nov 30
The attitude of a number of countries to Kazakhstan’s bid to preside
at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is
proof of an attempt to violate the organization’s principle of equal
rights, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"I will speak about certain aspects which make us particularly
worried. Primarily, these are attempts to violate the principle of
equal rights of OSCE members," Lavrov said at the 15th meeting of the
Council of the OSCE Foreign Ministers in Madrid on Thursday.
"The most vivid example are approaches by a certain group of
countries to Kazakhstan’s bid to preside in the OSCE in 2009 which
was backed by all CIS members that account for one fifth of the OSCE
members," the minister said.
"Unlike those who were approved in the position of OSCE ‘leaders,’
one tried to force our Kazakh friends to prove that they ‘fit’ [the
position]," Lavrov said.
"Such double standards are absolutely unacceptable. We hope that
common sense will come to reign and we will approve Kazakhstan as
OSCE president," he said.
Moscow thinks that the fears of a number of countries that the
adoption of the OSCE charter could undermine the obligations of the
organization’s members, he said.
"Could one imagine that this key pan-European organization, which the
OSCE is held to be, exists without a charter – a basic document
defining its structure and operating mechanisms?" Lavrov said.
The minister called on OSCE members to "closely study a draft charter
prepared by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
"We advocate making a decision on the establishment of a working
group that would be tasked to discuss the draft at this ministerial
meeting," Lavrov said.