Madrid - Russia and the West accused each other of
undermining the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) on Thursday at a Madrid meeting, with Moscow warning that a
'new fragmentation' threatened Europe.
The human rights and security watchdog failed to make progress on
Russian plans to abandon a key arms control treaty, which the West
wants Moscow to stick to. Russia said it remained open to further
talks.
More than 40 foreign ministers, as well as lower-level
representatives, from 56 OSCE countries attended the annual
ministerial council meeting, which will conclude on Friday in the
Spanish capital.
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns
said the OSCE was 'under assault from within' by some countries which
did not entirely respect democracy and human rights.
The European Union and several of its member countries joined the
US in criticizing Russia for restricting the access of OSCE observers
to its parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Russia had prompted the OSCE's election monitoring arm ODIHR to
boycott the poll by creating 'unprecedented restrictions' and
'bureaucratic obstacles,' said Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis
Amado, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
The ODIHR has cited difficulties in obtaining visas for the
observers, among other impediments.
Lavrov said the problems of the OSCE were particularly clear
within the ODIHR, which some countries were attempting to bring under
their control.
Burns had earlier rejected Russian accusations that Washington was
pressuring the ODIHR as 'completely unfounded.'
Russia wants the OSCE to focus less on human rights and democracy
issues, arguing that the West is using them to push for friendly
regimes in former Soviet states.
The OSCE was facing a 'moment of truth' at which it had to change,
or 'the whole European security architecture could collapse,' Lavrov
warned.
He accused the West of promoting 'group interests' and of applying
a 'double standard' to different member countries, as illustrated by
its reserves towards Kazakhstan's bid to chair the OSCE in 2009 after
Finland takes over from Spain in 2008.
The US and Britain would like to postpone the Kazakh chairmanship
over doubts about the country's democratic credentials.
A reform of the OSCE should also include establishing a charter,
more financial transparency and an end to 'flagrant abuses' in field
missions, Lavrov said.
Sideline talks were meanwhile held on Russia's plans to scrap the
1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty on December 12 over
US plans for a defence shield in eastern Europe and NATO's failure to
ratify a 1999 amended version of the treaty.
Burns admitted that no progress had been made so far, criticizing
the continuing presence of Russian forces in Moldova, which NATO
gives as one of the main reasons for not ratifying the CFE.
Russia did not see why it should always be the first one to make
constructive moves, Lavrov countered. The Russian minister did,
however, add that Moscow remained 'open to dialogue' about the CFE
treaty.
The West and Russia also disagree about the future of the 1,000-
strong OSCE mission in Kosovo, where the organization's largest field
presence is tasked with protecting the Serb minority and with
training police.
Moscow does not want the OSCE to stay in Kosovo if the province
declares itself independent from Russian ally Serbia against
Belgrade's will. The US, however, sees Kosovo's independence as the
only viable alternative.
The United States, Portugal, Spain, France, Britain and Serbia
urged the OSCE to stay in Kosovo regardless of its status. Failing to
extend the mandate of the mission when it expires at the end of the
year would be a 'dramatic mistake,' Burns said.
Despite the disagreements, Western representatives stressed the
continuing importance of the organization bringing together countries
from Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, which grew out of a
predecessor founded in 1975 in the Cold War era.
Burns said he expected the meeting to reach an agreement on an
OSCE mission to ensure security on the frontier between Afghanistan
and Tajikistan to prevent insecurity from spilling over from
Afghanistan.
Russia joined the West in supporting the Afghan mission plan and a
Spanish initiative for the OSCE to raise its profile in the fight
against terrorism.
As decisions by the OSCE require unanimity, the organization has
not approved a political declaration since 2002.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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