FM: New challenges in OSCE area affect security of its Participating States

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.26

By Seba Agayeva - Trend:

We observe a number of new challenges in the OSCE area that affect security of its Participating States, minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov said at the OSCE Ministerial Event on "Addressing the Crisis of European Security: The Way Forward and the Role of the OSCE".

According to him, among them there are a selective misinterpretation of the founding principles of the Helsinki Final Act, the growing number of instances of the threat or use of force in international relations, as well as a failure to ensure inviolability of internationally recognized borders of the OSCE participating States as a result of this use of force.

Minister also added, there is a lack of comprehensive and integral approach to the human rights and fundamental freedoms, application of double standards and selectiveness, attempts to destabilize security of the OSCE participating States under the pretext of human rights concerns.

Attempts to transform the Organization into an area of competing and opposing political- military groupings are troubling, Azerbaijani FM added.

"Such groupings-based competition and build-ups puts under question the indivisibility of the OSCE area and seriously affects those States that due to different limitations cannot or will not join collective defense institutions and are not in comfort with diminishing role of OSCE in the European security architecture", Mammadyarov said.

For non-bloc countries like Azerbaijan, OSCE is the pan-European security guarantor, whose multinational engagement protects Azerbaijan from biases of unilateral involvement, he added.

"It should be underlined that OSCE is neither a rival nor a competitor to any Western or Eurasian dominated unions or blocks, but it is a broad platform where disagreements and contradictions may be constructively addressed. Advantage of the OSCE would be fully utilized, if the Organization could manage not only to react to emerging crises, but preferably to prevent them from escalating", Azerbaijani FM added.