Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 May 2012
118 Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has developed any plans for informal inter state dialogue within the OSCE over the course of 2012 based on the Corfu process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25189/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe OSCE, as the world's largest regional security organisation, plays an important role in ensuring peace, stability and security within the area which it covers (sometimes described as "from Vancouver to Vladivostok"). The collective goal of the Organisation, as agreed at the Astana Summit in December 2010, is to work towards a genuine Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community, rooted in agreed principles, shared commitments and common goals. The so-called ‘Corfu Process', a process of consultation among the OSCE's 56 member States, contributed to reaching agreement on this objective at the Astana Summit. Discussions in the interim have focused on how to achieve the goal of a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community. As Chairman-in-Office, I circulated at the beginning of our Chairmanship a document entitled "From Astana to Dublin: Towards a Security Community, Building Blocks for 2012". Building on the mandate received at Astana, we want to identify the elements or "building blocks" of an action plan that could be put in place to reach this goal.This will be one of the themes for the Annual Security Review Conference to be held in Vienna on 26-28 June.
As part of this process, the Irish Chairmanship has proposed that we use the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act in 2015 as an opportunity for OSCE participating States to measure the progress being made towards the security community. Discussions of this proposal are already underway. A Chairmanship food-for-thought paper was discussed at a meeting of OSCE Ambassadors on 8-9 May. This paper sets out a vision for the "Helsinki+40" concept which could, in time and subject to agreement, reinvigorate discussions about an OSCE security community. Consultations on this document will continue over the coming months. Our aim is to take a forward-looking approach, involving the Chairmanships up to and including 2015, with a view to having a concrete action plan, as mandated by the Astana Commemorative Declaration, completed by the 40th anniversary in 2015.
