Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 July 2012
26 Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his priorities for the remainder of Ireland's presidency of the OSCE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36228/12]
View answerThe focus for the remainder of our OSCE Chairmanship will be on the preparations for the Dublin Ministerial Council, to take place from 6-7 December. We are taking forward the priorities which I have previously outlined to this House, ensuring balance and coherence across all three dimensions of the OSCE's work. Our aim for the Dublin Ministerial Council is to achieve concrete results, through a small and balanced package of decisions and declarations for adoption at the Council. We will be reflecting in the coming months on which areas may be appropriate for consideration by the Ministerial Council and we will be negotiating with partners in the run-up to the Council. As Chair-in-Office, we are continuing efforts to make progress towards lasting settlements of a number of conflicts in the OSCE area. Among these is the conflict in Moldova regarding the territory of Transdniestria; the conflict in Georgia regarding the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia; and the conflict which is the subject of the Minsk process. I am assisted in this task by Erwan Fouéré, who is my Special Representative for the Transdniestrian settlement process, and by Pádraig Murphy, my Special Representative for the Southern Caucasus. They are cooperating with international actors on the ground as well as maintaining close contact with the parties.
I am pleased that progress has recently been achieved in the so-called ‘5+2' Talks, chaired by Ireland, on the Transdniestria settlement process and as part of our support for this process, Moldovan and Transdniestrian negotiators visited Dublin and Belfast in May on a study visit to learn more about the Northern Ireland peace process. We remain committed to providing detailed briefings on aspects of the Northern Ireland peace process, should this be helpful to those engaged in conflict resolution efforts in the OSCE area. In mid-June it was my privilege to visit all three countries in the South Caucasus region. I had useful discussions in each of the three and was able, in talks with political leaders, to get a first hand impression of the situation in the region. I urged all concerned to engage constructively in discussions aimed at finding solutions to these conflicts.
The Irish Chairmanship is actively taking forward Mongolia's application to become an OSCE participating State and we have been active in work, at diplomatic level, on issues related to the legal status of the OSCE. As the fortieth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act beckons in 2015, we launched the ‘Helsinki + 40 concept', in consultation with the OSCE Troika and the future Swiss and Serbian Chairmanships. This offers an important opportunity to adopt a more forward-looking and strategic approach for the OSCE, moving towards realisation of the common vision agreed at the Astana Summit in 2010, that is to say, a comprehensive, cooperative and indivisible security community throughout the OSCE area.
I will, of course, keep this House informed on developments relating to our OSCE Chairmanship.
