Tánaiste opens 19th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-coperation in Europe
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon
Gilmore T.D., will today open the 19th Ministerial
Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
at the RDS Simmonscourt Arena in Dublin. The Tánaiste is
Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE, a position he assumed in January
this year. The meeting is the largest gathering of Foreign
Ministers ever to take place in Ireland and is the culmination of
Ireland’s year-long Chairmanship of the Organization.
Delegations representing over 70 countries and international
organisations will be attending the two day event, which will bring
together Foreign Ministers from over 50 States, including US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov. Ministers will be working on a series of
proposals aimed at strengthening the security and rights of the
citizens of the OSCE, the world’s largest regional security
organisation.
Welcoming the Ministers, senior officials, and the other 1,300
participants to Ireland, the Tánaiste said:
“Over the past year the Irish Chairmanship has been able to make good progress on key issues. We also held a series of very successful conferences in Ireland, the most important of which brought together all of the key participants from the Good Friday Agreement to demonstrate to those seeking solutions to other conflicts in the OSCE region that seemingly intractable situations can be resolved to the benefit of all communities. We also brought that experience to bear in the negotiations which we hosted in Ireland between Moldovan and Transdneistrian delegations to resolve that longstanding conflict.”
“The Conference on Internet Freedom which we organised in June,
and which showcased Ireland’s growing importance as a hub for
global internet firms, addressed the challenges to freedom of
expression and media freedom online and allowed for a debate around
internet governance which is a growing issue of concern in
the OSCE member states.”
“It has been a great honour for Ireland to have been invited to
lead this Organization at such an important time in international
relations both politically and economically. It is a
demonstration of the confidence and respect accorded to Ireland
internationally, and which was evident again in our election to the
UN Human Rights Council in November.”
“Our Chairmanship of the OSCE has helped to open doors and to
create opportunities at a time of great challenge for Ireland and
has provided a solid foundation for the start of our EU Presidency
in January.”
“At this meeting Ireland as Chair will work to advance the shared
aims of our Organization; a community of shared values. I am
hopeful that all of us will work together constructively to adopt a
balanced set of decisions, including on human rights issues such as
media and Internet freedom and combating racism and xenophobia, as
well as on good governance and military co-operation.”
Referring to the recommendations by civil society representatives who met at a parallel event in Dublin Castle yesterday, the Tánaiste said:
“OSCE States have formally recognised the need to protect defenders of human rights, but this is not always so in practice and it is something that urgently requires further attention in the months and years ahead.”
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