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OSCE meeting ends without joint declaration

Other News Materials 5 December 2008 17:52 (UTC +04:00)

The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) failed Friday to agree on a joint political declaration, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said.

"The differences proved too wide to bridge," Vanhanen said as a two-day meeting of the 56-member organization ended their deliberations, reported dpa.

OSCE decisions hinge on unanimity, and previous meetings have failed to bridge differences to agree on a document.

Finland had hoped to be able to present a declaration - the first in six years.

Conflict resolution - especially in light of the recent war between Russia and Georgia - was one of the focal points of the meeting.

The OSCE - along with the European Union - helped broker a ceasefire and deploy military observers in Georgia after the August conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Many countries urged the OSCE to extend the monitoring mission to Georgia and its breakaway regions. The mission is set to expire at the end of December.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Friday urged the OSCE to help avert a "humanitarian disaster" in South Ossetia, the breakaway region it has recognized in Georgia.

Lavrov noted that Russia had for several years warned of arms shipments to Tbilisi.

He said it was important to keep the OECD "relevant" in his remarks at the ministerial conference of the 56-nation group.

During the two-day meeting ministers have discussed proposals floated by Russia among others for a new security structure in Europe.

Several countries said the existing structures involving the EU, NATO and OSCE were sufficient. But they added there was need to refresh or strengthen those structures.

As current holder of the rotating OSCE chairmanship, Finland is hosting the 16th OSCE ministerial conference. Greece will take over in 2009.

The OSCE evolved from the Helsinki process that, in 1975, during the Cold War, saw the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

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