7-8 December OSCE meeting

Date: 14/12/1995

FOREIGN ministers of the EU, the former Soviet states, the United States and Canada tried to agree on a strategy for implementing the peace agreement in Bosnia. But there was disagreement among the 53 delegations over who should head the peace implementation office in Sarajevo of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and be responsible for the civilian aspects of the peace process. The OSCE must prepare Bosnian elections, monitor human rights in the region and introduce an arms control regime. The US nominated American diplomat Robert Frowick as OSCE mission chief.

BOSNIAN Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey said the OSCE would be vital in helping end the war and must ensure the elections take place and that disarmament pledges are kept. The peace implementation mission will be the OSCE's greatest challenge since it was established in 1975 to provide a link between east and west during the Cold War. Foreign Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek also insisted the OSCE plays a major role in former Yugoslavia and called on the organisation's high commissioner on national minorities to restore a multi-ethnic civil society to the region.

RUSSIAN and Hungarian delegations complained that the OSCE had not done enough to settle conflicts in or between its member states. They pushed for more vigorous work and a strengthening of the organisation as it approaches the 21st century.

HUNGARY's foreign minister also complained about the lack of progress in settling an old territorial conflict between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Van Den Broek said the Commission supported the OSCE in its attempts to bring a peace settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh.

THE Commissioner told OSCE ministers that the EU's stability pact for Central and Eastern Europe, which is based on OSCE principles, was still working as a valuable tool in preventive diplomacy, especially in countries with ethnic minorities. Van Den Broek said the Commission wanted to keep developing the stability pact and to reconvene the round tables that served as fora for resolving some ethnic disputes in countries such as Hungary and Romania.

VAN Den Broek also said EU negotiators were working to encourage regional cooperation when they prepare trade and cooperation accords for countries in the region. Improved regional relations were also the aim when the Commission set its strategy for delivering food aid and technical assistance, he said.