WORKING TOWARDS A EUROPE WHOLE AND FREE AND AT PEACE

AZG Armenian Daily
01/07/2009
OSCE-Armenia

Dora Bakoyannis, Foreign Minister of Greece, the OSCE
Chairperson-in-Office in 2009 My visit to Armenia as OSCE
Chairperson-in-Office comes at a time of formidable challenges and
great opportunities for our common Organization. Just this past weekend
the foreign ministers of the OSCE, including my counterpart Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandyan, met on the initiative of Greece on the
island of Corfu to address the present and future of European security.

This informal meeting was an important opportunity for us to deepen our
dialogue on our common concerns, and craft more effective responses
to the security challenges of 21st century Europe. We must continue
to build on this momentum. Protracted conflicts continue to cast a
shadow over our region, a fact of which you are all too aware. But
here too we have seen progress. Before they came to Corfu Minister
Nalbandyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyrov and the
Minsk Group Co-Chairs met in Paris. This meeting follows five meetings
between President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev just this year. I am encouraged by the latest developments
in the negotiation process, and the constructive discussions that
have taken place. There is a positive momentum in the discussions,
which is vital to build upon. I fully support the mediation efforts
of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, as well as the confidence-building
work of my Personal Representative Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. But
incidents on the ground remain a concern, and I urge both sides to
fully implement the ceasefire agreement and to withdraw snipers from
the line of contact, as proposed by the Co-Chairs. I am also encouraged
by the high level of co-operation between the OSCE Office in Yerevan
and Armenia in a range of activities, including its long-standing
cooperation with the Armenian police, measures to mitigate the impact
of the financial crisis, and supporting the office of the Human Rights
Defender. It is encouraging that the Parliament has initiated reform
of election legislation, which remains a priority. The OSCE and its
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights stand ready
to support Armenia in further improving election procedures. The
OSCE and Armenia should also continue to work together to support
freedom of the media and freedom of peaceful assembly. Open dialogue,
a robust civil society and a free press are critical to the democratic
process, and represent key commitments that we as OSCE participating
States have signed up to. Armenia plays a critical role in helping to
promote security and stability in the South Caucasus and the whole
OSCE area. In this context, I welcome the efforts of the Armenian
government to normalize bilateral relations with Turkey. As was clear
from our discussions in Corfu, we have made progress towards building a
"Europe whole and free and at peace" but much work remains to be done,
and new security challenges will test our commitment to indivisible
security. I look forward to continuing the dialogue we began so
fruitfully in Corfu on this visit.