Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 October 2012
49. Deputy John Browne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the progress and advances made in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe since Ireland's chairmanship was announced in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44906/12]
View answerOn 1 January this year, Ireland assumed its year-long Chairmanship-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Comprising 56 participating States from Europe, Central Asia and North America, the OSCE is the world's largest intergovernmental regional security organisation, dealing with a range of issues in the areas of democratisation, human rights, arms control and economic and environmental security. As Chairperson-in-Office, I bear overall responsibility for the executive action of the organisation and the co-ordination of its activities. These responsibilities include representing the OSCE in various contexts and supervising activities relating to conflict prevention and post-conflict rehabilitation.
I am pleased to report that the general assessment of the first nine months of our Chairmanship has been very positive. We have been productive across all dimensions of the OSCE's work. In February, I addressed the UN Security Council on our priorities and met with UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. I visited Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan in June and underlined the Chairmanship's commitment to making progress towards peaceful settlement of the "protracted conflicts" in the region through the peace processes supported by the OSCE and the international community. Minister of State Creighton visited Moldova in September and conveyed our strong support for the Transdniestria settlement process; she has also visited a number of Western Balkan countries which feature on the OSCE's agenda.
We have hosted a number of successful high-level Conferences in Dublin and Vienna throughout the year. In April, I hosted a high-level conference in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, entitled 'Shared Future: Building and Sustaining Peace, the Northern Ireland case study'. This event provided a unique opportunity to listen to a first-hand account of the peace process and its relevance to broader conflict resolution activities. The Dublin Conference on Internet Freedom took place on 18-19 June in Dublin Castle. It focused on ways to ensure that the internet remains an open, global and public forum for freedom of opinion and expression and a platform for facilitating the exercise of other human rights and fundamental freedoms.
We are now preparing intensively for the annual Ministerial Council, which will be held in the RDS in Dublin from 6-7 December. This will be the largest ever gathering of Foreign Ministers in Ireland. Approximately 1,200 delegates are expected to attend. We expect that the attendance will include US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov. The Ministerial meeting is a significant opportunity to showcase Ireland to Ministers and delegates from over sixty countries, including from the EU, North America, Russia and Central Asia.
Ireland's Chairmanship of the OSCE has provided us with a unique opportunity to provide leadership in the search for solutions to some of the world's most intractable conflicts. In sharing our own experience of successful conflict resolution, we have been able to make a tangible contribution to this vital part of the OSCE's work. We hope that the forthcoming Dublin Ministerial meeting will crown our efforts with a number of important decisions across the full range of OSCE interests and activities. Our OSCE Chairmanship has necessitated close and sustained engagement with major international players. I believe that it has served to enhance significantly our international profile and that the benefits of this will endure long beyond our Chairmanship year.
