News

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Chairperson-in-Office, H.E. Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, I have the pleasure of welcoming you to the 2011 Annual Security Review Conference.

I also have the special honor to welcome H.E. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, who has kindly agreed to set the scene for our deliberations today.

Mr. Secretary General, your presence here is a particularly essential because one of important priorities of the Lithuanian Chairmanship is to enhance co-operation with other international and regional organizations and to profile OSCE as a suitable platform for dialogue and interaction between relevant international actors.

Our meeting takes place within the larger context of a re-examination of the security landscape in the OSCE area.  Therefore,  “comparing notes” with other security organizations on their perception of existing challenges to our common security, as well as on future trends, is of exceptional importance.

Last year in Astana our leaders proclaimed the vision of a security community of the OSCE participating States; a community which is free and democratic,  and where the use of force in inter-state relations is simply unthinkable. This noble vision implies a great responsibility for all of us – to translate the declaration into reality by taking concrete practical steps.

Over the next two days, we should take stock of what has been achieved on this difficult way. We shall also recognize what has not. Even more, we should look strategically at what still needs to be done if we are to realize this ambitious vision.

At the last Summit our leaders committed themselves to increased efforts in order to resolve existing conflicts. They tasked us with strengthening the coherence of the OSCE response to transnational threats, including interaction with other international actors.  A commitment to opening the way for meaningful negotiations on conventional arms control and the substantial updating of the Vienna Document 1999 was also made. Our leaders undertook to contribute further to security and stability of our partners, including Afghanistan.  All this requires consistency in our efforts, clear political will as well as frank and open exchange on persistent problems or issues of contention.

At this mid-term review we have asked several of our distinguished speakers, representing participating States, international organizations, civil society and academic institutions to share their thoughts on the security challenges the OSCE community is confronted with today and is likely to face in the future. Rather than repeating what has been said before, we encourage all participants to put forward concrete ideas that might be translated into specific outcomes for the Vilnius Ministerial Council.

In particular, we must demonstrate that conflict cycle is at the core of the OSCE’s mandate and remains a high priority on the Organization’s agenda. That’s why this Chairmanship proposed to adopt a solid decision in Vilnius aiming at enhancing and optimizing the OSCE capacity to act effectively throughout the entire conflict cycle, specifically in early warning, post-conflict rehabilitation, mediation and early crisis response.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The 2011 ASRC will highlight a series of prominent topics which lie at the core of OSCE’s agenda. In addition, a Special Session was held yesterday focusing on the OSCE Partners for Co-operation.  This reflects the importance attached by participating States to recent developments in North Africa and in Afghanistan, and the “inextricable link” acknowledged by our heads of state and government between security in our region and security in neighbouring areas.  It also underscores the OSCE’s readiness to support its Partners in their democratic transition efforts.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me conclude by emphasizing once again that the Chairmanship views this Conference as an opportunity to add value to the on-going debate on security topics in our Organization and beyond. I hope that the discussions today and tomorrow will provide us with a decent yardstick to measure the progress we made and some good quality binoculars to identify what is coming at us and what we can expect in the near future.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.