Austria, Vienna / corr Trend A. Alasgarov /
There is an urgent need to find a consensus on the OSCE mission in Georgia, OSCE Chairman and Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said today in her first address to the organization's 56 participating nations.
"The OSCE's future in Georgia requires our special attention," Bakoyannis said. "It is quite clear that the situation on the ground and throughout the entire region requires more of an OSCE presence, not less. The OSCE has a long tradition of imaginative and flexible solutions. But these can only work if there is goodwill and political courage on all sides."
The OSCE's mission to Georgia will be dissolved and several military monitors will be forced to leave after Russia blocked a decision to extend the mission's mandate.
The OSCE has 28 military observers monitoring Georgia after the August war with Russia over South Ossetia. Eight will leave from Jan. 1. The remaining monitors will leave when their mandate expires in February.
Bakoyanis called the crisis in Georgia "both a challenge and an opportunity."
"This crisis has shaken us out of our complacency and reminded us that our job is not done," she said. "It provides us with an opportunity to take a fresh look at the mechanisms we have created and to re-dedicate ourselves to implementing our commitments in full."
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