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OSCE chairman in Moscow amid tension over future

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  • OSCE chairman in Moscow amid tension over future

    OSCE chairman in Moscow amid tension over future

    .c The Associated Press


    MOSCOW (AP) - The chairman of the Organization for Security and
    Cooperation in Europe was in Moscow on Tuesday for potentially tense
    talks with Russia, which has accused Europe's largest security body of
    double standards in monitoring rights and democracy.

    Dimitrij Rupel, who is also Slovenia's foreign minister, was slated to
    meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Lavrov has led
    Russian calls for reform of the 55-member organization, which Moscow
    says unfairly criticizes governments in some countries and allows its
    appraisals of elections to be colored by political interests.

    Rupel said before his visit that he and Lavrov would discuss OSCE
    reform issues, as well as the organization's budget and the election
    of its secretary general, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

    ``Russia's voice is highly important within the organization,'' the
    agency quoted Rupel as saying.

    Russia, together with former Soviet republics Armenia, Belarus,
    Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine,
    last summer accused the OSCE of double standards. They said it spends
    too much money on field missions to promote human rights and
    democratic institutions in certain countries while overlooking others.

    OSCE representatives were among the observers who said Russia's
    parliamentary elections last December and the campaign that led to
    President Vladimir Putin's March re-election fell short of democratic
    standards.

    The organization has also criticized elections in other ex-Soviet
    republics - including Ukraine, where the victory of the
    Russian-supported candidate in a November presidential vote was
    overturned by the Supreme Court after observers reported fraud.

    In an interview published Tuesday in the Russian daily Izvestia, Rupel
    said that the OSCE's election monitoring missions are neutral and
    objective, but that he welcomes any suggestions on improving their
    work, and urged Russia to send more observers to participate in the
    missions.

    Shortly after taking office last month, Rupel said the OSCE must
    intensify its work to promote democracy and human rights even as it
    faces ``a difficult time'' because of the internal rift over its
    future. He called the tone of the dispute ``reminiscent of an era that
    we thought we had put behind us'' - alluding to the Cold War - but
    added: ``That will not discourage us from going forward.''



    02/01/05 04:55 EST
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