Contributions to the OSCE Voluntary Funds for Moldova and Georgia

Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to announce that the U.S. will shortly be making substantial contributions to the OSCE Voluntary Funds for Georgia and Moldova, to support implementation and fulfillment of Istanbul commitments on military withdrawal. This issue was discussed on September 20 in Washington, in meetings between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Russian Foreign Minister Ivan Ivanov and Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov.

It is fair to ask why we are contributing to these voluntary funds at this moment, given that the United States has been among those who have expressed profound disappointment with the lack of progress on the remaining Istanbul issues.

Our answer is plain: There are fewer than four months left in the year, and even less time before our ministers meet in Porto. In Moldova there is much work to be done. In Georgia there are important issues to resolve. We are among those who believe it important to achieve significant results on these issues as soon as possible. Our contributions will help to ensure that there are no financial barriers to timely and substantial progress.

Like other participating States, we are committed to support fulfillment of the Istanbul commitments not only because of their importance to the principal parties and to the region, but also because of their significance in relation to the CFE treaty and the agreement on adaptation. We want to assist where we can in achieving the promise of Istanbul, and we know that others in this room share that commitment.

Therefore, we are contributing 9.99 million dollars to the OSCE Voluntary Fund for Moldova. Colleagues will recall Secretary Powell's statement at the Bucharest ministerial that the U.S. would provide up to 14 million USD to assist in fulfillment of the Russian Federation's Istanbul Commitment to withdraw all of its forces from the territory of Moldova. This contribution, in conjunction with our previous contributions, meets that goal.

Mr. Chairman, like many others, we have been discouraged over the lack of recent results in Moldova, despite the fact that OSCE-funded ammunition disposal technologies stand ready and that OSCE-funded repairs have rendered the Tiraspol airport fully functional. We hope that the Russian Federation will take steps as soon as possible to begin large-scale withdrawal and disposal of the vast store of ammunition in Kotbasna, and withdrawal by air of stored small arms. These additional U.S. Contributions to the OSCE voluntary fund will be available to facilitate withdrawal and disposal activities, once Russia establishes the conditions for these activities to take place.

We will also be contributing 625,000 dollars to the OSCE Voluntary Fund for Georgia. This is the first U.S. contribution to that fund, and it is intended to facilitate withdrawal of Russian forces from the bases at Akhalkalaki and Batumi. We encourage the parties to reach agreement on the duration of the Russian presence at these two bases and to resolve the outstanding issues relating to the status of the Gudauta base and the Russian presence there. We hope these issues will be resolved through negotiation in the very near term, and that proposals will be made for use of our newly contributed funds.

We encourage all of the parties involved to take advantage of these contributions promptly and through concrete actions, and we urge other OSCE participating States to continue their support of efforts to fulfill the commitments made at Istanbul.