Review of OSCE Activities

Mr. Chairman, it is a real pleasure for me to be here to review OSCE activities at the mid-year mark and to start looking toward our Ministerial meeting in Estoril this December.

The United States believes that the OSCE has a vital role to play in Euro-Atlantic security affairs. It has unique capabilities to stimulate democratic reforms, to counter threats to intra-state stability, to resolve disputes, and to assist with rehabilitation when stability breaks down.

The OSCE has done its job very well. We believe it can do even better. As last September 11 demonstrated all too clearly, our world is changing, not always in positive ways, new threats are emerging, and OSCE needs to change in response. Our main effort now should be to focus and strengthen the institution in order to meet new challenges and exploit new opportunities.

We intend to offer a number of proposals designed to do just this. Our goals are to make OSCE missions more valuable to participating states, to improve effectiveness where necessary, to achieve better coordination with other institutions, and to ensure continued emphasis on combating terrorism.

We also want to move toward greater balance among the core dimensions of OSCE, while fully protecting and preserving the human rights activities that have become one of the hallmarks of this institution. Our hope is that some of these proposals might be found useful for our meeting in Estoril.

Balance in Missions

If OSCE missions are going to be of positive benefit, host governments need to view them as valuable assets rather than as troublesome burdens. This is not always the case today.

OSCE missions have a great deal to offer host governments in helping build vibrant democratic institutions. But many OSCE field missions could improve the assistance they provide to host governments by broadening the activities they undertake to implement their mandates.

In particular, OSCE missions could play a more active role in implementing agreed OSCE activities in the economic and security dimensions.

We may want, for example, to have field missions to serve as a vehicle for coordinating economic- and security-related expertise.

We will need to discuss how exactly to do this, but we want to work with delegations and the Chairman-in-Office in developing ways in which field missions can better assist host governments.

We also believe that field missions need to develop closer, more interactive relationships with host governments. Many field missions could operate more as service providers than they do now.

The office in Ukraine may offer us a unique opportunity to begin this kind of approach. We would like to develop an OSCE presence in Kiev that would be a model for others.

It would design programs in cooperation with the host government aimed at helping meet mutual goals.

Economic Dimension

Let me say a few words now about the economic dimension. Simply put, we do not use the economic dimension as effectively as we should.

There are already a number of good ideas out there. The OSCE is currently struggling with the difficult issue of trafficking. Although this is an issue that straddles all three dimensions, we believe a number of aspects of the problem could best be handled in the economic dimension.

We also believe OSCE should support small business development. We propose that OSCE seek to engage successful small businessmen, especially from states that have made the transition from planned to market economies, to member states still in transition.

This program could be conducted in cooperation with existing bilateral and multilateral projects, and perhaps be coordinated by OSCE field missions in member states where they are present.

We believe there are a number of other areas in which OSCE could make a positive contribution to economic development. Perhaps the way to start is to inventory the kinds of bilateral and multilateral assistance currently being offered and provided to member states.

This could help steer OSCE assistance into areas where little is being done and where OSCE, in its facilitator mode, could provide useful expertise. We might want to ask Dr. Swiecicki, our new Economic Coordinator, to take on this task.

Security

Let me now turn to the security dimension. Over the years, OSCE has done a good deal of very valuable work in the security field and this should not be minimized. OSCE is carrying on important security-related activities in Macedonia, Kosovo, Georgia and Moldova.

And most recently, in the Bucharest Action Plan and Bishkek Document, the OSCE has taken a position in the frontline of our common efforts to combat the scourge of terrorism.

We believe this work deserves recognition. Just as we now have annual Human Dimension and Economic Forum meetings we should also consider establishing a review conference that focuses on the full array of OSCE work in the security dimension.

An annual OSCE security dimension review conference chaired by the Chairman-in-Office would provide us with an enduring forum for evaluating the work of the OSCE in promoting progress on its counter-terrorism agenda and other OSCE security activities. This would help to serve as a continuing spur to OSCE efforts in these areas.

Let me stress that this proposal is not intended to replace or duplicate the FSC's Annual Implementation Assessment Meeting.

We might even consider conducting these reviews simultaneously -- or perhaps more preferably having the FSC report on its Assessment Meeting during the security review conference.

As we conceive it, the components of the conference agenda would be:

-- evaluation and review of implementation of the Bucharest Action Plan, Bishkek Document and relevant elements of UNSCR 1373 on counter-terrorism;

-- review of OSCE activities in addressing regional conflicts;

-- review of the security dimension component in OSCE field missions;

-- an invitation to the FSC to report to the conference on activities within its mandate and competence related to the aforementioned topics; and

-- presentations by NATO, the NATO-Russia Council, and the EU on their European security activities.

We believe establishment of this review conference should be a key deliverable for our ministerial meeting in Estoril this December.

Coordination with NATO, EU

The activities of OSCE, NATO, EU, and COE increasingly overlap. We need not draw rigid lines among the activities of these institutions. Rather, our effort should be to ensure that their activities complement each other.

To accomplish this, OSCE should improve its coordination with these bodies. Coordination among OSCE, NATO, and EU is necessary for effective operations. We should strengthen it.

A liaison office in Brussels would be a positive step in this direction. We would welcome a comparable NATO office in Vienna. These would allow face-to-face coordination with NATO and EU officials and thus strengthen coordination and address concerns that OSCE is left out of the planning process.

Another possible step would be cooperation between OSCE and NATO in training in certain areas. Counter-terrorism is an obvious possibility. Each institution would draw on its strengths. For example OSCE would conduct police training while NATO would conduct military-related training.

Reform

At the Bucharest Ministerial we agreed to continue work on reform. Our goal should be to give OSCE the structure and continuity it needs to carry out its activities and accept new ones without changing its fundamental nature.

We are willing to consider reforms so long as they do not overly centralize direction of the institution. Heads of missions and the heads of institutions need be able to carry out their responsibilities without excessive interference from Vienna.

We are willing to consider a more visible role for the Secretary General so long as executive decision-making remains with the Chairman-in-Office. An annual change in the chair brings in fresh ideas and new vigor. This is a strength of OSCE not a weakness.

We also need to consider how we might better handle the transition between Chairmen-in-Office. We might want to establish a sort of Permanent Secretary for the Chairman.

Such a position would assist with policy direction and provide continuity between chairs. I understand that there has been discussion of this issue and we look forward to hearing your ideas.

Mr. Chairman, we welcome the adoption this morning of the two reform papers. We believe this represents a positive step forward.

Legal Status

We appreciate the importance of legal status to many delegations. Because the most practical concern we face over legal issues is the legal status of our OSCE staff in the field, I am pleased to announce today that we are prepared to consider supporting a convention that would cover privileges and immunities and the authority to contract.

This would be a significant step, and we look forward to pursuing consultations on it with you, as with our own Congress. Prior consultations with Congress and within the Administration, however, have revealed strong satisfaction with the unique character of OSCE and opposition to altering it in any fundamental way. Consequently, we will not be able to support the related issue of granting OSCE international legal personality.

Terrorism

On terrorism, OSCE has taken a number of positive steps towards implementing agreed measures. Many states have intervened in the Permanent Council to report their progress on becoming parties to the 12 UN conventions and protocols related to terrorism. This is an important commitment from Bucharest and it is encouraging that so many states seem poised to meet the December 31 deadline.

The appointment of Mr. Jan Troejborg as Personal Representative for Combating Terrorism and Mr. Richard Monk as Senior Police Advisor were positive steps. The establishment of the Counterterrorism Unit within the Secretariat will provide necessary support.

The May 31 meeting on terrorist finance at the 10th Economic Forum was another positive step forward. I thank the Economic Coordinator and the Chair for their efforts in organizing this meeting.

We also commend the chair for convening the High Level meeting in Lisbon on June 12 and we look forward to participating in the meeting of sub-regional organizations being organized by the Secretary General on September 6 in Vienna.

I want to highlight the proposal made earlier by the United States and the Russian Federation concerning a database of projects and resources. We think this will be a useful asset and can link OSCE with the UN database in the future. This will strengthen OSCE's role as the organization best suited to implement UNSCR 1373 in Europe.

On terrorist financing, numerous delegations have offered their support for a draft decision committing all participating states to complete the FATF self-assessment exercise by September 1, 2002. The Permanent Council should take action on this decision immediately.

Action on this decision could then serve as a basis to complete work on a draft OSCE-UN ODCCP program for training on money laundering/terrorist financing for participating states requesting such assistance.

The recent visit to Central Asia by Mr. Monk, and his suggestions for additional training and assistance, offers another opportunity for the OSCE to take additional action towards implementation of the Bucharest and Bishkek plans.

We understand the Chairman-in-Office views a Charter on Terrorism as a key element of the Estoril Ministerial. We continue to believe that full implementation of the recommendations from Bucharest and Bishkek are the most important terrorism deliverable. For a Charter to be capable of achieving consensus, it would have to be short, reflect core, enduring principles, and offer clear value added to existing terrorism documents.

Conclusion

Mr. Chairman, I hope my comments here today have made clear that, when it comes to the OSCE and its activities, the United States has no interest in standing still. Our proposals are proposals that are forward looking, far-reaching and designed to make the OSCE a stronger and more dynamic asset for its members. The Estoril Ministerial will provide us with an excellent opportunity to agree on such steps.