YouSaid · the spoken record

De Gucht

lines on the record
117
first
2006-01-16
most recent
2008-12-22
sittings or episodes
13
sources
un-security-council

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  1. “The frozen conflict of Moldova-Transdniestria is very complicated. What the OSCE should attempt to do there is twofold. First, we should have a road map for how to include Transdniestria in a federal set-up of Moldova. Second, we should create the conditions that allow for the removal of all foreign troops from Transdniestrian soil. As for Kosovo, the Security Council has appointed Mr. Martti Ahtisaari as the chief negotiator for the status of Kosovo. I have already met him, twice, and will continue to do so after my visit to the region later in February. We met on Friday in Vienna. Mr. Ahtisaari put a lot of emphasis on the role of the OSCE from now until an eventual agreement on status, as well as afterwards.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  2. “Mr. De Gucht: First, I would like to thank all representatives that intervened in the debate for their support for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and for my country's chairmanship this year. Slovakia had a question concerning the frozen conflict in Kosovo. With respect to frozen conflicts, the OSCE is certainly in the driver's seat with respect to South Ossetia. We hope that our initial judgement - that this frozen conflict may be ripe for treatment - is correct. The same is probably true of Nagorno-Karabakh, where the OSCE is present through the Minsk Group. It is foreseen that the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in the course of February. Even before that meeting, I will go to the region and hold meetings with the Presidents of both countries to prepare their discussion.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  3. “It is for that reason that I wished to brief the Council about the activities of the OSCE at the beginning of our chairmanship. That is the outline of a programme that is both ambitious and realistic. It is ambitious because it opens up numerous new avenues for the OSCE while expanding the scope of others. It is realistic because we are aware that progress will only be possible through agreement among the OSCE's 55 member countries. As Chairman-in-Office, we intend to play the role of honest broker, working in the best interests of the organization as a whole and for the benefit of all its members. Good cooperation between the OSCE and the United Nations is crucial in that regard. In its capacity as Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Belgium wishes to contribute to that goal. We intend to meet the challenge.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  4. “The two organizations work in many common areas, including such important fields as respect for human rights, democratization, the protection of minorities, conflict prevention, crisis management, combating organized crime, fighting terrorism and protecting the environment. I would also like to assure the Security Council of our full support for the principles and recommendations contained in resolution 1631 (2005) - adopted last October - which aim to strengthen cooperation and consultation between the United Nations and regional organizations while at the same time recognizing the primary responsibility of the Security Council for international peace and security. As Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Belgium will endeavour to further promote synergies and complementarity between the United Nations and the OSCE.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  5. “The OSCE Plan of Action for Combating Terrorism is part of the universal framework of United Nations conventions and General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. OSCE members are committed to ratifying and implementing United Nations conventions and protocols. Within the OSCE secretariat, the Action against Terrorism Unit has the mission of supervising the implementation of existing United Nations instruments and providing technical assistance to member States in the fight against terrorism. The Belgian chairmanship intends to continue making progress on the basis of the OSCE Plan of Action and to promote cooperation between the OSCE and the United Nations, particularly the Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee. The United Nations and the OSCE share the same values.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  6. “With regard to the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the OSCE just adopted, at the Ministerial Council held in Ljubljana, a decision committing it to monitor the implementation by all its member States of Security Council resolution 1540 (2004). Furthermore, we are actively engaged in combating the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons; our actions are in accordance with the United Nations Programme of Action. We will also devote particular attention to the link between the environment and security. To that end, we will strive to promote the Environment and Security Initiative, which brings together the United Nations, the OSCE and NATO in plans to destroy dangerous products. Finally, terrorism is recognized by the United Nations and the OSCE as one of the most significant new threats.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  7. “As OSCE Chairman, I believe it is the duty of member countries to make full and timely use of existing instruments designed to guarantee the transparency and reliability of electoral processes. As Chairman-in- Office, I appeal to the Government of Belarus to invite the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to observe the upcoming presidential elections. Those are the priorities of our OSCE chairmanship, but our programme has a broader scope. We will also pursue and develop the OSCE's other major areas of concern. I am thinking in particular of tolerance and non-discrimination or combating human trafficking. In the context of the OSCE's politico- military aspect, we will organize a major seminar in February 2006 concerning military doctrines.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  8. “In Georgia, the United Nations is playing a central role in efforts aimed at conciliation with Abkhazia. With regard to South Ossetia, such a central role is being played by the OSCE. We hope that the recent progress can pave the way for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. In parallel, the OSCE is now conducting an economic needs assessment. The Belgian chairmanship is prepared to organize, if necessary, a donors conference in 2006. The OSCE is also very active in the area of democratization. Electoral observation is an important instrument in that regard, even if it is sometimes challenged. I am convinced of the usefulness of this work and intend to ensure, as Chairman-in-Office, that observer missions can continue to carry out the tasks for which they were created: to contribute in an impartial manner to democratic development.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  9. “Martti Ahtisaari as Special Envoy charged with leading the process of Kosovo's final status. The OSCE will be called upon to help implement the final status. Therefore, it is important that from the outset it be able to fully play its role among the international bodies concerned. In Moldova, the OSCE is playing an important role in the mediation and determination of Transdniestria's future status. During its OSCE chairmanship, Belgium intends to make a constructive contribution to the status negotiations. In 2005, we witnessed a rapprochement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the question of Nagorny Karabakh. The Belgian OSCE chairmanship intends to contribute actively to the peace process and to the Minsk Group's efforts to ensure that that rapprochement can be translated into a settlement of the conflict in 2006.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  10. “In cooperation with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the OSCE mission is carrying out an important task related to the reconstruction of Kosovo. Its work focuses mainly on protecting minorities, decentralization, democratization, promoting human rights, elections, police training and supporting the administration. Under the Belgian chairmanship, the future role of the OSCE mission in Kosovo will be assessed. UNMIK plans to gradually end its presence, which will lead to the transfer of tasks and competencies to other organizations, including the European Union and the OSCE. In-depth dialogue and close cooperation among the United Nations, the European Union, the OSCE, NATO and other main actors will be essential for success in Kosovo. The Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, has appointed Mr.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  11. “Fourthly, Belgium will strive to contribute to conflict prevention and crisis management. More specifically, we will devote attention to Kosovo and to what we call the frozen conflicts in Moldova- Transdniestria, Nagorny Karabakh and Georgia-South Ossetia. The OSCE itself has neither the mission nor the means to impose a solution. It can, however - and this is its mission - supervise and facilitate the emergence of a solution if the will to negotiate really exists on the part of the main parties concerned. The question of Kosovo will be given special attention by the Belgian chairmanship. Today, the OSCE mission in Kosovo is the largest of all OSCE missions, with 1,600 persons on the ground throughout Kosovo, including in villages and regions where members of the Serb minority live.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  12. “The fight against organized crime is not a new subject for the OSCE, as attested by its plans and actions against human trafficking, the illicit trade in drugs and weapons and the laundering of funds derived from criminal activities and corruption. The OSCE has instruments to strengthen the rule of law and to train police and justice personnel. Our chairmanship wishes to build on those achievements, to give new impetus to OSCE work in this area and to introduce some new ideas. In the fight against organized crime, the 2002 United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, called the Palermo Convention, is the international legal instrument par excellence. The OSCE offers a useful framework for promoting its ratification and providing specific support for its implementation by OSCE participating States.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  13. “We intend to cooperate with the United Nations High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and to help implement the United Nations Programme of Action adopted at Almaty in 2003. We also intend to strengthen cooperation between the OSCE and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe to promote the implementation of juridical norms and instruments. Thirdly, a central place will be given to combating international crime and promoting the rule of law. Transnational crime is, together with terrorism, one of the most serious new threats to our societies. The magnitude of this threat was recognized in the outcome document of the September 2005 United Nations summit. It is also a problem of concern to our citizens.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  14. “Indeed, security is never finally achieved. It requires constant attention, ongoing investment and shared responsibility. The changes that have occurred since the creation of the OSCE have been enormous and, for the most part, positive. The risk of a conflict encompassing the European continent as a whole has disappeared. But security and stability in Europe remain among the main concerns of the OSCE. There can be no democracy without stability. Conversely, peace and security require respect for democracy, for civil liberties and for human rights. There is no lasting stability without economic development. With respect to transportation and the strengthening of the economic aspect, the Belgian chairmanship intends to draw attention to the special situation of landlocked countries.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  15. “At the Ljubljana Ministerial Council, agreement was reached on a review of the scale of assessments and on a road map for the institutional reform of the OSCE in order better to adapt it to the current challenges. That road map signals the areas where negotiations on reform should be carried out under the Belgian chairmanship. We attach great importance to that task, and we will take it very seriously. It is my intention to appoint a high representative of my administration to carry out that process. Secondly, Belgium will strive to achieve a better balance among the three aspects - political-military, economic and human - of the OSCE'S comprehensive security approach. Belgium will strive to strengthen the economic and environmental aspect while stressing regional cooperation and transportation security.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  16. “In that connection, I reaffirm our profound commitment to those common principles, shared by the United Nations. Following 2005, a year of many challenges, the OSCE'S contribution to peace and security in Europe, through its cross-cutting mandate, is better recognized. The OSCE is now in better shape than it was at the beginning of last year. The Ljubljana Ministerial Council in December provided an opportunity for renewed dialogue and better understanding. Thus, Belgium is shouldering its new responsibilities with optimism. Allow me, Mr. President, to outline the main points of the programme of our chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. First, we will play an active role in the institutional reform of the OSCE.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source

  17. “Allow me at the outset to thank you, Mr. President, and all other members of the Security Council for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to speak before the Council on behalf of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As of 1 January, Belgium has exercised the presidency of the OSCE. In assuming that function, Belgium has clearly demonstrated its commitment to multilateralism and international cooperation. The OSCE is a regional organization under the terms of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. It played a crucial role in bridging the gap that divided Europe during the cold war. Since then, it has developed a set of commitments, norms and principles that links all its members. That constitutes the essence of modern collective security in the broadest sense of the term.”

    2006-01-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5346 (2006) · source