In his speech at the OSCE foreign ministers’ meeting in Athens, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet emphasised that the further development and activities of the OSCE must be based on the organisation’s values and previously established fundamental principles. “In the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and also in Transnistria and Nagorno Karabakh, we must achieve result by acting according to the OSCE’s guiding principles and previously made agreements,” Paet stressed. “Adhering to our pledges does not require us to invent anything new,” he emphasised.
Paet stated that the OSCE’s principles have served to protect rule of law, democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms across the Euro-Atlantic area for the last 35 years. “However, we still need to move forward in order to meet emerging threats and challenges such as climate change, energy security, cyber security, and terrorism,” asserted Paet. “It is also necessary to have stronger OSCE engagement in Afghanistan so that we can make a valuable contribution to the progress being made there,” he said.
Paet stressed that the application of the OSCE’s acting principles affirm how active the organisation is in addressing human trafficking, national minorities, media freedom, and election monitoring. “For example, discussions about the implementation of the Bolzano/Bozen Recommendations, which were initiated and launched by High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebæk, have successfully begun among OSCE member states,” said Paet. “Communication among nations continues to be very important in the support and protection of national minorities,” he added.
Paet proposed sharing Estonia’s e-voting experience with the other OSCE member states. “The OSCE election monitoring system is unique in the world and has already functioned for nearly 20 years,” said Paet. “Estonia has successfully introduced new technology for carrying out elections electronically, and we are prepared to share our experiences so that the positive aspects of this system could be used by others throughout the OSCE area,” Paet added.
In 2010 the chairmanship of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) will be passed from Greece to Kazakhstan.
SPOKESPERSON'S OFFICE