OBSERVATION MISSION: MEANS VS. A TOOL
Lilit Poghosyan
Hayots Ashkharh Daily
16 Dec 2008
Armenia
After the meeting held in the Foreign Ministry yesterday, OSCE
Secretary General MARK PERRIN DE BRISCHAMBO and Foreign Minister
EDWARD NALBANDYAN answered the questions of the journalists
The first question was addressed to Ed. Nalbandyan. In particular, it
concerned the issue whether the Azeri Foreign Minister’s statement that
the parties had been proposed additional options related to the Madrid
Principles during the meeting in Helsinki corresponded to the reality.
Touching upon the Azeri official’s "disclosure", the Foreign Minister
noted that Mr. Mamedyarov’s statement did not correspond to the reality
this time either. "There was nothing of the kind. This is the first
thing to say. The second thing is that in this period, different
approaches and proposal are being advanced during discussions, and
the process may last long. It is done within the scope of the Madrid
Principles, and there is nothing new there."
What does Armenia do "towards the implementation" of the strict
recommendations of the ill-famed Bryza, the Commissioner for Human
Rights and others who demand that the issue of the "political
prisoners" be settled urgently.
In the estimation of the Foreign Minister, "Armenia has undertaken
quite a lot of steps towards the implementation of t he clauses of
Resolutions # 1609 and 1620. I can say that their major part has
been implemented. There are question over which the authorities are
making efforts. However, it is impossible to solve some questions
within a couple of days. I don’t think it is possible to carry out
so much work in any country in cooperation with international experts.
But we managed to do that in Armenia, and we are determined to continue
the reforms not because some people may announce we must do that but
because such reforms are necessary for our people. We make that choice
consciously, and we’ll follow that path, deepening and carrying out
all the plans that derive from the interests of our people."
One of the journalists looking forward to the speedy settlement of the
Karabakh conflict tried to find contradictions in the statements made
by the OSCE officials. For instance, Chairman of the Parliamentary
Assembly said that this might happen till spring, whereas, French
Co-Chair Bernard Fassier, expressed an opinion that the document
might be signed till the middle of the coming year, according to the
time-schedule submitted to the parties.
"You cannot find any contradictions in the document adopted by us. Both
the statement made by the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE member states
and the joint statement of the Foreign Ministers of the MG Co-Chairing
countries were elaborated in the same spirit and on the=2 0basis of
the same principles.
I cannot say anything on behalf of separate OSCE officials, but I
strongly hope that the communications on the highest level may continue
in future provided the parties demonstrate practical flexibility. Of
course, the situation is quite complicated, but the important thing
is that there is a political will to continue the peaceful settlement
process. I think this is what is essential. The 56 Foreign Ministers
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are ready
to support the continuation of the process," the Secretary General
said without, naturally, specifying a "concrete" time-limit.
What attitude does the OSCE Secretary General have towards the
radical activists’ heart-breaking complaints that by making "mild"
assessments, the OSCE and PACE observers gave the green light to the
acts of violence committed on March 1?
Touching upon this question, Mr. Bricshambo made it clear that the
task of an observation mission did not absolutely consist in making
assessments on the pre-electoral or post-electoral situation of the
given country or in estimating the elections as good or bad. The
task of the observers is to record "whether or not there has been
any progress and whether a step forward has been observed during the
elections. This concerns all the countries where we carried out an
observation mission.
The observation mission is n ot a tool for speaking about negative
phenomena; it is a means for ensuring the transition to democracy
and continuing democratic processes in the given states."
In response to the question whether during the meeting in Helsinki
the Ministers touched upon the issue that Georgia and Azerbaijan are
assiduously arming themselves in breach of all the quotas prescribed
by the European Agreement on General Armaments, E. Nalbandyan referred
to his speech, "I specially touched upon the fact that Azerbaijan
has increased its military budget several times and continues its
efforts in that direction.
Unfortunately, many countries that have acceded to the agreement do
not make a relevant assessment on the policy conducted by Azerbaijan
in contravention to international treaties. That fact was clearly
mentioned, and we once again drew the international community and
Foreign Ministers’ attention to the fact that such policy may really
lead to undesired consequences."
When any country, increasing its military budget, speaks about peace,
it is half of the misfortune, but "What Azerbaijan says is quite
different, and there is a possibility of war. In such conditions,
any incident on the border may go be beyond control and have harmful
consequences for both Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the whole
region and generally, it may pose a threat to security and stability,
the principal task of the Organization for Security20and Cooperation
in Europe," the Foreign Minister is convinced.