Europe

Europe

Audronius AÅ¾ubalis: In uncertain times, the OSCEâ€™s steady approach to security is needed more than ever â€“ ARTICLE

Audronius AÅ¾ubalis: In uncertain times, the OSCEâ€™s steady approach to security is needed more than ever â€“ <font color=red> ARTICLE </font>

05 December 2011 06:00 (UTC +04:00)

On Tuesday I will welcome to Vilnius the foreign ministers of the 56 participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) â€“ a community of shared values spanning North America, Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia â€“ as well as with our 12 partner countries in the southern Mediterranean, Asia and Australia. Over two days, we will discuss our shared security priorities.

Last year our leaders reaffirmed a common vision of a free, democratic, common and indivisible Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community based on shared values, agreed commitments and common goals. This vision is ambitious. To build the trust needed to confront successfully the challenges we share we must openly discuss our differences and remain patiently and resolutely engaged in addressing both long standing and newly arising threats to our states and societies.

In 2011, as Chair of the OSCE, Lithuania has helped our participating States take pragmatic and meaningful steps to reform and strengthen our institutions and practices in line with OSCE commitments. Just last week in Vilnius, we restarted, after a near six-year hiatus, the stalled peace negotiations over Transniestria. This shows the dividends that patience, persistance and sustained preventative diplomacy can bring. We have redoubled our collective efforts to tackle transnational threats such organized crime, terrorism, trafficking of drugs, arms and people, and cyber attacks. Enhanced international co-operation is the only option if we are to keep a step ahead of those who threaten the security and integrity of our society with ever-more sophisticated challenges. The price of neglect is too high.

Throughout our Chairmanship, our focus has been not just on building stronger relations among states, but also on enhancing trust between states and their citizens. We have promoted freedom of expression, recognizing the fundamental role that the media play in safeguarding our freedoms and ensuring respect for democratic values. We have paid particular attention to the safety of journalists, and pushed to allow digital media to develop freely and in a pluralistic way.

We have held several high-level events aimed at combating the stubbornly entrenched intolerance against ethnic minorities and religious groups which regrettably is still present in many of our lands. Minority groups are often the first to suffer in times of crisis.

Less dramatic, but perhaps more consequential has been the work of our special Institutions and our 16 field presences, including in Azerbaijan. Co-operation on the ground, between our field presences and government agencies, non-governmental organizations, media and engaged citizens at all levels lays the foundations for secure democratic institutions, open, transparent communication and governance, and offers a genuine, comprehensive basis for security, in all dimensions of our societies.

At the Astana Summit last year, our leaders recognized that the security of our region is inextricably linked with that of our neighbours, including Afghanistan and other states in Asia and the southern Mediterranean. The dramatic events in the Middle East and North Africa, which recall my own countryâ€™s struggle for independence and democracy two decades ago, are a reminder of peopleâ€™s aspirations to live freely.

When I visited Tunisia earlier this year, I was reminded where Lithuania was twenty years ago as it took its first steps toward re-independence, and how much needed to be done. I am also reminded how important it was to have the encouragement and support of more mature democratic friends and neighbors, particularly those of the Nordic region to which Lithuania now belongs. Just as our journey took time, we must expect that transition in the southern Mediterranean will be a long process that will require the support of international partners to state institutions and civil society alike. We continue to develop and share best practices among and between all of the participating States. We are prepared to share our experience and practices with our partners and learn from them as well in the process. At the same time, the OSCEâ€™s efforts to build the law-enforcement capacities of its partner Afghanistan, and to promote societal resilience throughout Central Asia, are taking on an increasing urgency against the backdrop of the coming military drawdown.

With the challenges posed by the ongoing financial crisis and the rapid pace of change in the Middle East and North Africa, now is not the time to take our eye off of unfinished business at home or beyond our own borders. We must show resolve and use our collective strength to make our shared geographic space a genuine security community.