Greece takes over OSCE chairmanship

ANKARA. January 3. KAZINFORM Greece is assuming the one-year presidency of Europe's security body, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). For the coming year, Greece reaffirmed her commitments of 13th November 'Ambassadors Forum' on the issue of "Priorities and Challenges of the OSCE Greek Presidency".

The Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis stressed to work as an honest broker to strengthen the Organization's role as a forum for dialogue and platform for action at the heart of Europe's security architecture. ?The OSCE plays a crucial role in regional security, working for stability, prosperity and democracy throughout its 56 participating States. It is an irreplaceable forum for dialogue in our region and does valuable practical work on the ground. We will try to strengthen the OSCE's role at the heart of European security," Bakoyannis said. Bakoyannis identified the role of being an honest broker by saying: "The OSCE is also a barometer of the region's political climate. As Greece assumes the Chairmanship we will work hard -- and will engage actively as an honest broker -- to try to ensure that the regrettable but unmistakable chill among the conflicting sides does not take a long-term toll on the prospects for their peaceful co-existence and the return to normality; furthermore, it should not affect the continued effectiveness of the OSCE presence. In particular, we intend to proceed with a swift and coordinated course of action to try and find a compromise arrangement that would allow the Organization to continue its activities throughout Georgia, in order to assist all efforts for the peaceful resolution of the crisis." At the same time, 2009 will be a challenging year for Greece due to external problems which are expanding global financial crisis, ongoing tension tensions in the Caucasus region and problems with regard to the future of the EU as well as the Cyprus issue. Bakoyannis will officially present the Greek presidency priorities at the OSCE headquarters in Vienna 15th of January. The OSCE is an ad hoc organization under the United Nations Charter (Chap. VIII), and was created during the Cold War era as an East-West forum. The Organization has 56 participating states from Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North America and its mission covers three separate dimensions: 1. The politico-military, focusing on regional security, exercised collectively, based on early warning, conflict prevention and, where needed, crisis management; 2. The economic-environmental dimension, including the environment and all its aspects, immigration, economic and social policy, and 3. The human dimension, mainly concerned with human rights, Kazinform cites the Journal of Turkish Weekly.