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Working Towards A Europe Whole And Free And At Peace

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  • Working Towards A Europe Whole And Free And At Peace

    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.
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