News

Secretary General Rasmussen,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me at the outset to express my deep appreciation and warm thanks to all NATO Allies for their co-operation and their support for the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship over this past year. 

As in previous years, NATO and the OSCE have worked to reach common objectives -- establishing security and promoting democratic ideals in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian region and with our Partners for Cooperation in Asia and the Mediterranean.

The nature of our activities and the tools at our disposal are different, obviously. 

But NATO and the OSCE have complementary roles to play. We work in tandem to secure conditions in which governments and societies can work openly and cooperatively on behalf of their people.   We hold a common commitment to democracy, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

With so much in common, it is essential that we maintain close high level working relations between our organizations.  That is why I value so highly the Secretary General’s personal engagement, including at our Annual Security Review Conference in June.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Events in North Africa and the Middle East have been very much in the forefront of our attention throughout this year.  We in the OSCE have also been following these events closely.  

I and other representatives of the Chairmanship met with leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. We declared ourselves willing, if requested, to share our experience in building democratic institutions and practices, ensuring free and fair elections and strengthening the rule of law, free media and respect for human rights.   Representatives of these states as well as NGOs from the region will be at the Vilnius Ministerial. We will explore ways to support them as they face the challenges before them. 

In Afghanistan, NATO’s forces are deployed to establish and guarantee more secure conditions in which representative government can develop a democratic state based upon the rule of law, protection of human rights, and respect for human dignity. The OSCE is working closely with its own participating States in Central Asia to strengthen co-operation and build more effective border controls and policing systems to combat transnational threats such as terrorist activities and the trafficking of narcotics and persons that still emanate from Afghanistan. The OSCE is developing a new set of projects to expand our work with Afghanistan. I look forward to Ministerial Council approval.

In Kosovo, the OSCE has the central role in building democratic institutions and seeking to establish a stable order in which the ethnic communities can re-establish positive relations with one another. NATO’s presence in Kosovo guarantees the security necessary for this work to move forward.

Over the past year, the OSCE has continued to provide a unique forum for its participating States to explore conventional arms control and Confidence Building Measures (CBMs). Both are important instruments for ensuring military stability, predictability and transparency.

We face a situation in the OSCE region today where arms control instruments created after the end of the Cold War no longer work effectively. The process of modernizing the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe remains frozen.  This is due mainly to disagreement on the host nation consent concept and transparency measures. These two principles remain fundamental. I cannot imagine any reliable future conventional arms control agreement in Europe that does not address the host nation consent issue.  In addition, negotiating countries must have a clear and full picture about each other’s conventional force postures.

The 1999 Vienna Document needs to be updated.  I spoke with the Kazakh Minister, the Chairman of the Forum for Security Cooperation (FSC), and we expect strong and united support at Vilnius to achieve as much progress along these lines as possible.  Allies have taken the lead in putting forward meaningful proposals in this respect.   However, no agreement has so far been reached on substantial issues. Whatever we do achieve this year, we will need to maintain momentum and continue to work hard in 2012. 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is important that OSCE remains the primary venue for broad security dialogue in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian area. Only this approach can unite all OSCE participating States, free of dividing lines, conflicts, spheres of influence and zones with different levels of security. We need to invite our Euro-Atlantic partners and Russia in particular to join this effort, without preconditions and without trying to replace this dialogue in other foras, such as the NATO-Russia Council (NRC).

This past year, Lithuania’s Chairmanship has placed a high priority on bringing about progress in resolving our region’s protracted conflicts.  I am pleased to report that the concerned parties in Chisinau and Tiraspol agreed on 22 September in Moscow to resume formal 5+2 negotiations after a deadlock of five years. In just over two weeks, November 30-December 1 the first official meeting in this format will be held in Vilnius.  I would like to thank all our partners for helping this to materialize. One crucial factor facilitating the resumption of the talks was the meeting in Germany by the Prime Minister of Moldova and the Transdniestrian leader hosted by the German Federal Office together with the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship. 

The key agenda item to be discussed during the first official session will be principles of conduct of the negotiations proposed by the OSCE.

The resumption of official negotiations is important. But it is only the beginning of the process. The international community needs to consolidate efforts so that the process stays in motion. Implementation of confidence building measures between both banks of Nistru River, as well as direct engagement between the leadership of the sides and by the U.S. and the EU should continue.

Throughout the year, the Chairmanship has worked closely with the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, we have kept this volatile situation in and around Nagorno-Karabakh from worsening. Still, simple practical steps, such as removing snipers from the line of contact, where 28 people (21 soldier and 7 civilians) have been killed this year already, and re-establishing the effective incident investigation mechanism, would lower the temperature significantly. 

With respect to Georgia, the Geneva talks maintained communication among the concerned parties. Contrary to past experience, there were no walk-outs during our Chairmanship. Despite completely diverging positions on many issues, all participants showed restraint and willingness to work on pragmatic interim solutions.

To make further progress, I believe that agreement by Russia to adopt a Non-Use of Force (NUF) pledge must be kept very high on the agenda. I also hope that recent agreements involving the concerned parties in other areas may contribute to an improved atmosphere for fruitful talks in 2012.

The Chairmanship has focused during this year on the safety of journalists and the protection of the freedom and integrity of the Internet and new digital media. At Vilnius, we will put forward concrete guidelines to eliminate restrictive practices directed against journalists, as well as steps to ensure prosecution of those who use force or violence against journalists. 

Similarly, I expect to see positive statements on the future role of the OSCE in promoting energy and cyber security, drawing on the OSCE’s experience in developing confidence-building measures.  These are topics that the OSCE will continue to address and develop under the Irish and future chairmanships.  They are topics on which I would hope NATO and Allies will engage actively in the OSCE framework, and on which NATO and the OSCE will continue to share views.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We remain concerned about Belarus. The Chairmanship has made constant efforts to establish positive communication and develop a constructive working relationship with Minsk.  The Belarusian authorities have been unresponsive.  The government seems intent on imposing even harsher repressive measures, harming their own image and reputation even more in the process.  

Lithuania, as OSCE Chairman-in-Office and as a neighbour, continues to stand firmly in support of Belarus’ civil society leaders in their efforts to reclaim their democratic rights. 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The process of reform and fulfilling OSCE commitments is evolutionary at best.   It is a process we all must continue to commit ourselves to pursue, however, through continued cooperation, mutual support and complementary activities and actions.

 May I at this point add, that the Vilnius Ministerial is but a fortnight away. There is already an encouraging high-level response.  Some 44 ministers and numerous NGOs have announced their presence.  I hope we can increase that number, so I re-extend my invitation to all NATO Allies to join us and engage actively to secure concrete results for our joint security concerns. 

I know the timing of our respective Ministerials is tight, and that the Secretary General is still on the mend, but I would warmly welcome his participation at the Vilnius Ministerial if at all possible.