OSCE ENVOY HAILS “REMARKABLY BALANCED” WORK IN ARMENIA
Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
18 May 06
The OSCE secretary-general has said that his organization’s work in
Armenia is “remarkably balanced”. In what was described as an exclusive
interview to Mediamax, Marc Perrin de Brichambaut also urged Armenia
to amend the electoral law ahead of the forthcoming elections. The
following is the text of report in English by Armenian news agency
Mediamax headlined “I know that desecration of an Armenian cemetery
in Nakhichevan raised very strong feelings in Armenia”; Subheadings
have been inserted editorially:
An exclusive interview given by the OSCE secretary-general, Ambassador
Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, to Armenia’s Mediamax news agency.
[Journalist] Armenia was among those CIS countries which criticized
the OSCE in a statement made in summer 2004 and today it seems the OSCE
reform has become a legitimate item on the agenda of the organization.
[Ambassador] Like any organization, the OSCE is in a constant
process of adapting to new realities. What you are referring to is
the requirement of certain countries within the OSCE to make more
substantial changes in order to reflect their own perception that there
are occasionally double standards within the OSCE. Since decisions are
taken in the OSCE on the basis of consensus, any decision requires a
large amount of discussion in order for compromise to be reached. We
are right now going to that process. We hope this process will be a
very successful one.
But I do not think any final package will be reached before the next
ministerial meeting to be held in Brussels this December. In between,
we are in active contacts with all countries, including Armenia,
which has been following this issue closely, and I think the Armenian
authorities understand that the OSCE secretariat is doing its best
to address the existing concerns under the prevailing conditions.
[Journalist] In July 2004, CIS member states declared that “there
is a clear misbalance between the three dimensions of security –
military and political, economic and environmental and human. There
is a clear shift of priorities towards humanitarian problems, which
noticeably reduces the OSCE’s ability to oppose new challenges and
threats”. Do you agree that such misbalance indeed exists?
OSCE work in Armenia ” remarkably balanced”
[Ambassador] Here in Armenia the work done by the OSCE is remarkably
balanced. In a broader way, it is true that the OSCE occasionally is
perceived more through its human dimension, but it is also a fact that
a lot of resources of the OSCE come from the voluntary contributions
of participating states and that many of them place a large emphasis
on the human dimension, providing resources for that.
I would greatly encourage all those participating states who want more
spending on other dimensions to look at how they might contribute to
all the dimensions.
Prague forum
[Journalist] It seems that the economic and environmental dimension
of the OSCE is coming to the forefront of discussions initiated 30
years ago in Helsinki. What benefits can Armenia expect from the OSCE?
[Ambassador] We are going to have in Prague an Economic Forum on 21
May, which has been solely prepared by meetings in Dushanbe and Baku.
We will be putting attention on issues which are directly relevant
to the economic prosperity of a country like Armenia. This is a clear
indication that the economic dimension is being taken very seriously,
with particular focus on issues which are relevant to the countries
in the Caucasus.
“Good” relations with OSCE
[Journalist] How is the cooperation between Armenia and the OSCE Office
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) developing? Do
you see any room for improvement?
[Ambassador] I think the relations between the OSCE and Armenia are
good and that the Office for Democracy and Human Rights (ODHR) is
part of that relationship. We expect that ODHR will be invited to send
long-term and short-term election monitors to the upcoming elections in
Armenian in 2007 and 2008. We are making comments on the amendments to
the electoral law and we hope that this will be taken into account. But
what is most important would be for any decisions taken by parliament
to be fully implemented in the forthcoming elections.
“Strong” feelings over cemetery claims
[Journalist] In the context of the OSCE human dimension the issues
of tolerance and non-discrimination are at the forefront of the
discussions. Don’t you think that in this respect much more attention
should be paid to the situation in our region?
[Ambassador] I think you are touching on a very important point. It
would be a great complicating factor if existing political tensions
would be given a cultural dimension. I am well aware of the fact that
the desecration of an Armenian cemetery in Naxcivan has raised very
strong feelings in Armenia. The Armenian Catholicos expressed his deep
sadness and sorrow about this. We are going to work very hard for the
solution of the conflict itself in order to eliminate the root causes
of this possible cultural tension. We are all concerned about this.