POLITICS
ATHENS MINISTERIAL COUNCIL BEGINS WITH CALL FOR UNITY ON EUROPEAN SECURITY DIALOGUE
Baku, December 1 (AZERTAC). The dialogue on European security can be meaningful only if it is tied to concrete progress, the foreign ministers of the 56 OSCE participating States heard at the start of the 17th OSCE Ministerial Council in Athens today, according to the OSCE official website.
Greek President Karolos Papoulias, welcoming the ministers and high-level representatives at the opening session, said: “The Athens Ministerial provides us all with an important opportunity to send out a clear message of unity on the need for enhanced dialogue complemented by joint action.”
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Greek Prime Minister and Foreign Minister George Papandreou, urged OSCE states to reinforce their commitment to seek solutions through the Corfu Process.
“The new dialogue on European security can be meaningful only in so far as it is tied to concrete progress on key security challenges,” he said.
“Much has happened this year to remind us that security in our region remains a work in progress. The global economic crisis has affected all our countries. We have worked hard to contain the aftermath of armed conflict in Georgia. Instability in Afghanistan continues to pose multi-faceted challenges for the security of our region.”
“We have to agree on important decisions in the next two days to strengthen co-operative security across the OSCE area.”