NEXT SUMMIT OF OSCE FOREIGN MINISTERS TO BE HELD IN ATHENS IN DECEMBER OF 2009

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
29.06.2009 14:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The informal meeting of OSCE foreign ministers
on the Greek island of Corfu concluded today with the launch of the
"Corfu Process" to tackle European security challenges with concrete
steps to restore confidence and prepare the ground for the ministers’
next meeting in Athens in December.

"We just completed a fascinating, wide-ranging and frank discussion on
the future of European security," said the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office,
Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.

"While this is a time to celebrate the remarkable progress the
OSCE states have achieved together over the past two decades, the
Ministers concurred that it is also time to consider that much work
remains undone."

Bakoyannis said that traditional security problems remained unresolved
as new threats and challenges continued to emerge. These included
protracted conflicts and other unresolved tensions, the suspended CFE
Treaty, the need to strengthen democracy and rule of law in parts of
the region, the economic crisis, terrorism, trafficking and instability
in neighbouring regions.

The meeting ended with agreement on the "Corfu Process" – steps to take
the dialogue on European security forward, said the OSCE Chairperson.

"We agreed on the need for an open, sustained, wide-ranging and
inclusive dialogue on security and concurred that the OSCE is a
natural forum to anchor this dialogue, because it is the only regional
organization bringing together all states from Vancouver to Vladivostok
on an equal basis."

She added that OSCE documents such as the Platform for Co-operative
Security provided a framework so that other security institutions
could also contribute to the process Bakoyannis said she had tasked the
Permanent Representative of Greece to the OSCE in Vienna, Ambassador
Mara Marinaki, to push ahead with the Corfu Process with an eye to
the OSCE’s Ministerial Council in Athens in December.

"As a next step and for the preparation of the Athens Ministerial
Council, I have decided to ask my Permanent Representative in Vienna to
explore with participating States ways for a more structured dialogue,
and more specifically the priority areas that our dialogue should
focus on and the modalities for its conduct," she said.