[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
SLOVAKIA'S CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE OSCE:.
PRIORITIES AND CHALLENGES
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
APRIL 3, 2019
__________
Printed for the use of the
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
[CSCE 116-1-1]
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via www.csce.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
36-089PDF WASHINGTON : 2019
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
HOUSE SENATE
ALCEE L.HASTINGS, Florida ROGER WICKER, Mississippi,
Chairman Co-Chairman
JOE WILSON, South Carolina BENJAMIN L. CARDIN. Maryland
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
EMANUEL CLEAVER II, Missouri CORY GARDNER, Colorado
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee MARCO RUBIO, Florida
BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire
RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina THOM TILLIS, North Carolina
GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin TOM UDALL, New Mexico
MARC VEASEY, Texas SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
Executive Branch Commissioners
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, to be appointed
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, to be appointed
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, to be appointed
[ii]
SLOVAKIA'S CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE OSCE:
PRIORITIES AND CHALLENGES
----------
April 3, 2019
COMMISSIONERS
Page
Hon. Alcee L. Hastings, Chairman, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 1
Hon. Brian Fitzpatrick, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 11
Hon. Joe Wilson, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 13
Hon. Cory Gardner, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 16
Hon. Gwen Moore, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 17
Hon. Roger F. Wicker, Co-Chairman, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 19
WITNESS
Miroslav Lajcak, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the
Slovak Republic and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office................. 3
APPENDIX
Prepared statement of Hon. Alcee L. Hastings..................... 24
Prepared statement of Hon. Roger F. Wicker....................... 26
Prepared statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin.................... 27
Prepared statement of Miroslav Lajcak............................ 29
SLOVAKIA'S CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE OSCE:
CHALLENGES AND PRIORITIES
----------
April 3, 2019
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Washington, DC
The hearing was held at 3:30 p.m. in Room SVC 201-00,
Capitol Visitor Center, Washington, DC, Hon. Alcee L. Hastings,
Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe,
presiding.
Commissioners present: Hon. Alcee L. Hastings, Chairman,
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Brian
Fitzpatrick, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Joe Wilson, Commissioner,
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Cory
Gardner, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation
in Europe; Hon. Gwen Moore, Commissioner, Commission on
Security and Cooperation in Europe; and Hon. Roger F. Wicker,
Co-Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Witness present: Miroslav Lajcak, Minister of Foreign and
European Affairs of the Slovak Republic and OSCE Chairperson-
in-Office.
HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS, CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Hastings. [Sounds gavel.] So this hearing will come to
order. Mr. Chairperson, Mr. Foreign Minister, I warmly welcome
you to the U.S. Congress. And thank you giving us the
opportunity to hear your views as the OSCE chairperson in
office. As you may know, this is the first hearing of the
Helsinki Commission in the 116th Congress. I intend as
chairperson--having had this role previously--I intend as
chairperson to build and maintain active U.S. engagement in the
OSCE based on principled foreign policy and a belief that we--
and by ``we'' I mean here the United States--must practice what
we preach. I will also continue the strong parliamentary
diplomacy that has been the hallmark of this commission since
it was created. Having previously served as the president of
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I know how important robust
engagement from our legislative bodies is to the OSCE.
To foster this exchange, you and others should expect a
robust calendar of hearings, like this one, chaired by myself
and by other commissioners to explore all aspects of our
partnership. I commend my colleagues from the Helsinki
Commission, including Co-Chairman Wicker, who you have met, and
may very well--he and Senator Cardin in different hearings.
We call the Senate the other body. You know, they have so
many things going on at a given time. But I commend them for
their service in leadership roles in the assembly as well as
your colleague, member of Slovak Parliament, Peter Osusky, who
successfully headed the short-term election observation mission
in Armenia last year. I did that one too another time in my
life. OSCE election observation is and continues to be the gold
standard. And we were happy to have OSCE observers here for our
congressional elections last fall.
It would be a bit unfair if I were to let this moment pass
and not divert from the written remarks to give you the history
on how it was that we were able to allow for OSCE
parliamentarians to come here. I was president of the
Parliamentary Assembly at the time. And I approached Colin
Powell, who was secretary of state at the time. And my office
had been trying to arrange a meeting with the secretary. And
they didn't know that I had gone to college and graduated
college with his wife. So I called Alma and told her I needed
to have a meeting with Colin, and it was done.
And he went ahead at that time and scheduled for the very
first time parliamentarians from the OSCE to come to the
American elections. He told me later that he caught a lot of
flak as a result of it. I know I did. I got hate mail and
everything. But it was one of the most pleasant experiences
that I've had, Mr. Minister, was to host five Russians in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida during my elections. And I might add, this
was the election in Florida where we had some substantial
challenges. And so it was very good to have them there. But I
just thought you would like that little vignette as to how it
came that we did have election observers come from the
Parliamentary Assembly. And I hope they always will.
If I may, I will also take one minute to commend another of
your countrymen, President Andrej Kiska. President Kiska was
honored recently by the German Council of Sinti and Roma for
his leadership in countering anti-Roma racism. That is really a
great honor for all of Slovakia. As you may know, the
commission has long championed efforts to promote the security
and equality of Roma and supported the development of OSCE
efforts to address anti-Semitism. And we were the first, I
might add, to address anti-Semitism. And at that particular
conference, we were mindful of how important it was that we
keep the watered-down version of equality at bay. Also in the
event we also addressed racism and other forms of intolerance,
even toward black Europeans. Footnote right there as well.
When I joined the assembly, the majority leader now, Steny
Hoyer, recruited me to become a member. And in my very, very
first meeting we were discussing migration. And this was in the
1990s. So we saw it coming. And someone said to me earlier, We
didn't fix it. And we now have this ongoing problem. Efforts
that embrace the entireties of our societies are critical to
the future of the OSCE. And I hope that your country will
continue its focus on these issues this year.
And, Mr. Minister, as you know, the Helsinki Commission's
engagement with Slovakia dates to 1990, even before
independence. And I was personally fortunate to have the
opportunity to visit Slovakia. I congratulate Slovakia on the
election of your new President Zuzana Caputova. And I hope I
didn't butcher her name, and if I did you'll ask her to please
forgive me. But it is wonderful to see your country in this
leadership role today, chairing the 57-country OSCE. And I keep
giving you these little vignettes. I swore in Montenegro as the
56th. And it's no easy task. And we're grateful that Slovakia
has taken up this challenge.
As my colleagues, Senators Wicker and Cardin, wrote in the
Woodrow Wilson Quarterly last fall, the OSCE's mission is as
important as ever. And I'm very happy to be able to continue
the Helsinki Commission's tradition of hosting a discussion
with a country holding the OSCE chairmanship. And I look
forward to hearing your views on how we can best meet the
challenges that we face together.
And for the purposes of our audience that has assembled,
and those who don't know him, the chairperson Miroslav Lajcak--
I've circulated your full biography, so I won't repeat all of
it here. But I would like to note a few things in particular.
Minister Lajcak is a career diplomat with a distinguished
career serving both his country and the international
community. In addition to representing Slovakia in numerous
positions, he served as high commissioner--high representative
of the international community and special representative of
the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was a key
figure in the mediation of the post-
conflict crisis in the western Balkans, and negotiated,
organized, and supervised the referendum on the independence of
Montenegro. Most recently, he served as president of the United
Nations General Assembly, where he advocated for dialog,
strengthening multilateralism, and serving the needs of all
people. And I join you in that enormous quest for strengthening
multilateralism. I would that more of our friends throughout
the world had the same views as you and I in that particular
respect.
The floor is yours, sir.
Mr. Lajcak. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. To members
of the Helsinki Commission, ladies and gentlemen, it's a great
honor for me to address you today.
And it's a very special occasion for me to be here as a
chairperson-in-office of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe in such a symbolic year, marking the 30th
anniversary of the extraordinary events of 1989, when the
people of Czechoslovakia rose up to peacefully demand their
liberty. For so many years, our nation had seen the dreams
deferred, but never lost faith. Those students, artists,
workers helped usher in the historic wave of freedom that swept
across Central and Eastern Europe. Our federation, with its
newly found freedom, even took on chairing the OSCE in 1992,
before forming our two independent states on January 1st, 1993.
The democratization road from that point was rocky and I
experienced it myself as a young diplomat at the time. But I am
very proud that today Slovakia sits at the table with nations
which hold democratic values high, whether at the European
Union, the OSCE or NATO. The road to that table was long. But
we had a backup. The OSCE and the Helsinki Commission engaged
in this road from the beginning until today, when we ourselves
actively pass on our experience and expertise with democratic
transition. And we are ready to do more, to contribute more.
That's why we have decided to take on the OSCE chairmanship
this year, because we believe in multilateralism. We believe in
nations coming together, building foundations of trust and
working together to advance security and prosperity. We believe
in the story of Helsinki. This story ties together 57 states
spanning three continents, helping to make security, human
rights, and rule of law a reality for over a billion people. We
in Slovakia are very proud of this story, and we are very
excited to stand at the helm of this organization, because 44
years later we believe the potential to unlock is still
incredibly vast.
Local know-how. Presence on the ground. Outstanding
expertise. We must rediscover the niche value of this
organization, because there are crises on our doorstep. And
what is even more disturbing, we are experiencing challenges
not only outside, but also within. The rising tides of
isolationism and unilateralism are putting our carefully
crafted post-war order at risk. The stakes are high. And they
concern the issues that are at the core of this commission. So
I am very glad to be here with you, to share an overview of the
agenda we set for our year, and I'm looking forward to hearing
your views.
Let me now summarize our priorities in three main points.
First, I want to talk about preventing and resolving conflicts
and mitigating their impact on people. And here, let me right
away turn to the crisis in and around Ukraine. This commission
has been steadfast in supporting the aspirations of the
Ukrainian people for human rights and democracy. And we wish to
see our biggest neighbor safe and prosperous. And to make this
a reality, there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements.
That's why we strongly support existing formats, in particular
the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group, as well
as the U.S. engagement through the efforts of Ambassador Kurt
Volker.
But we cannot simply wait for progress to happen. There are
too many people suffering as we speak. So while we focus on
supporting solutions agreed at the negotiating table, we are
also working on concrete measures aimed at improving lives of
people caught up in the midst of the crisis. To put it bluntly,
retaining focus on the big picture should not blind us to the
urgent and real needs of the people on the ground. They range
from repairing the damaged Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, the
entry-exit point on the line of contact, to humanitarian
demining. We put together specific proposals of nine
confidence-building measures. And in February, I had the chance
to discuss them with Ministers Klimkin and Lavrov separately.
And I did not hear ``no'' a single time. So I hope we can work
together to bring these proposed steps forward in the coming
months.
These steps are, of course, going to be influenced by the
results of the Presidential elections in Ukraine and the
political climate they will bring. So our chairmanship fully
supports the statement of preliminary findings and conclusions
issued by the international election observation mission.
According to the preliminary report, the elections were
competitive. Voters had a broad choice and turned out in large
numbers. However, law was often not implemented in good faith.
Numerous credible indications of misuse of state resources and
vote-buying undermined the credibility of the process.
On this example and many more, the role of the OSCE/ODIHR
election observation is once again proving crucial. It
contributes to consolidation of democracy in the OSCE region.
And that's why OSCE participating States must do everything
possible to allow these missions to work unimpeded. This
commission has observed virtually every national election in
Ukraine since 1990. Even though the years have passed, and
crisis hit, your focus has not dimmed. And I look forward to
working with the United States in our ongoing efforts with Kyiv
and Moscow to take steps forward.
While the crisis in and around Ukraine occupies much of our
attention, we are equally engaged in other parts of the OSCE
area. The organization works toward conflict resolution and
mediation in Transnistria, Georgia, and Nagorno-Karabakh. I
have recently visited them all. From Moldova, where we have
seen some real momentum in the Transnistrian settlement process
which we can build on. Then onto Georgia, where our
chairmanship fully backs existing formats and remains committed
to the Geneva international discussions and the Incident
Prevention and Response Mechanisms.
And again, here as well, we aim to focus on projects that
could bring about small, but concrete, results and improvement
on the situation for people on the ground. And in Nagorno-
Karabakh, while there has been some positive developments we
need to see a lot more before talking about real progress.
I will visit Central Asia next week and trips around the
Western Balkans are on the books, with the aim to address the
challenges we are facing right on the spot. We believe the OSCE
is equipped with many tools we need to overcome these
challenges. And we are dedicating our chairmanship to
developing and making better use of them. But this also means
spotting new opportunities, like the inclusion of young people
in peace processes, or gender mainstreaming and greater
participation of women in the security field. And here, I'd
take the opportunity to acknowledge the work of my special
representative on gender, Ambassador Melanne Verveer.
So for our second priority, we will focus on what lies
ahead of us to achieve a safer future for all, in particular
young people. Our societies are different to what they were 44
years ago when our organization was founded. Cyberterrorism,
use of technology in organized crime and trafficking in
persons--these are issues people could hardly imagine in the
mist of the cold war. But today, we find ourselves confronted
with them daily, and they are completely resistant to any
unilateral solutions. So we need to lead a dialog, we need to
open up space for emerging themes within the OSCE.
To this end, our chairmanship has many conferences on our
agenda, dealing with issues from terrorism to cybersecurity, to
call attention to new trends and explore potential for
collaborative impact. Two conferences already took place in
Bratislava.
The first one addressed challenges in promoting tolerance
and non-discrimination, and best practices in combating modern-
day anti-Semitism. And here, I want to thank you very much for
the United States and this commission's support, especially to
Senator Cardin and also to the newly appointed U.S. special
envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, Mr. Elan Carr. We
were happy to welcome Mr. Carr in Bratislava just a day after
his appointment, along with my personal representative on
combating anti-Semitism, Rabbi Andrew Baker.
Our second conference, just last week, focused on
preventing and countering terrorism as well as violent
extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism. In
preparation, we took due note of the briefing on
counterterrorism organized by Congressman Hudson in December
last year. It was very symbolic that our conference took place
in the immediate aftermath of the destruction of the last Daesh
stronghold. And the message from the discussions was very
clear: This is not a time to get comfortable. Terrorism and
violent extremism pose as grave a threat as ever. And it
continues to evolve.
We need to address the root causes and stay one step ahead.
That's why we, at the OSCE, need to continue updating and
adapting our toolbox--so the future does not catch us
unprepared.
The role of the Helsinki Commission in bringing new
developments and trends to light is invaluable. You keep us
alert to emerging challenges--from human trafficking and
shrinking space for critical voices from civil society to the
protection of national minorities. And here I would underline
our commitment to all mandated human dimension events, namely
Human Dimension Implementation Meeting and Human Dimension
Seminar in Warsaw, and three supplementary human dimension
meetings in Vienna. The first one just took place day before
yesterday and yesterday.
Slovakia places high importance on advancing the protection
of the safety of journalists, especially after last year's
horrendous murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and
his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, which left Slovakia in absolute
shock. Support for the protection of journalists has been
expressed through last year's Ministerial Council decision--one
of two adopted in the human dimension after several years. And
we are working closely with all three independent institutions
of the organizations, namely Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights, High Commissioner on National Minorities, and
Representative on Freedom of the Media.
But to advance these themes, to advance our security and
cooperation, we must band together. And it appears the world
has started to forget the value of multilateralism--this
fundamental problem-solving and war-preventing tool in
international relations, the raison d'etre of the OSCE.
So our third priority is to promote effective
multilateralism, both within and outside the OSCE. Within
because the comparative advantage brought by representation is
so broad that it brings parties with entirely contradicting
interests to the same room every week is immense. And outside,
by promoting OSCE's strategic partnerships with other
international bodies.
Just last month, I was in New York to brief the United
Nations Security Council and engage on strengthening ties
between the OSCE and the United Nations. I have done the same
at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council, at NATO's North
Atlantic Council, and Council of Europe's Committee of
Ministers' Deputies. And promoting partnerships also means
connecting with nongovernmental actors--think tanks, women's
groups, youth networks and other civil society partners--
because while these organizations differ in mandate,
membership, or functions, these differences do not play to our
disadvantage.
To the contrary, there is a wide space for complementarity
of actions, to bring not only enhanced coherence and
effectiveness but also better use of resources. We must
remember one thing: While our roles vary in many key aspects,
the context of our activities remains the same. We are here to
work for a safer and more democratic region, where every
individual enjoys security and individual rights. In this
globalized and interconnected age, working together on
multilateral platforms is not a luxury we can afford to opt out
of. It is inevitable if we want to safeguard peace and
prosperity to our people. And the OSCE is the platform to do
just that.
Mr. Chairman, members of the commission, I truly welcome
this opportunity to engage with you today. And it was very
useful to meet many congressional delegates at the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly gathering in Vienna on 21st February,
because the representatives chosen directly by people are the
best link between the organization and those it was created to
serve. You bring the local knowledge. You bring the outlook
from outside the meeting halls. You know best what concerns the
people you represent. In that way, you are key in making the
OSCE people-responsive.
So I am very much looking forward to our discussion and I
thank you for the attention you have given me today.
Thank you.
Mr. Hastings. Thank you so very much. It's deeply
appreciated. You were very clear, concise, and to the point,
your excellency. And I genuinely appreciate that.
We've been joined by one of my colleagues, Commissioner
Brian Fitzpatrick, who spent a considerable portion of his
career before coming to Congress in Ukraine. So he and I both
have our Ukrainian experiences.
I don't know whether you were made aware, but I was the
lead election observer after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine.
And the follow on to that was in Armenia when I was the lead
observer. I wore an orange tie. And The New York Times reported
that I was bringing the Orange Revolution to Armenia.
[Laughter.] I mean, little things can--you have to pay
attention to what it is you do.
I didn't take the advantage at the beginning because I knew
others would come, but I'd also like to take one moment to
recognize Slovakia's Ambassador to the United States, His
Excellency Ivan Korcok. Wave your hand so we'll know who you
are. And I don't know that my colleague came here, but he is
one of my dearest friends in Congress, Congressperson Peter
Visclosky, who is from the Slovak Caucus in the House of
Representatives. And Peter never asked me to join that Caucus,
so I'm going to tell him I'm joining. [Laughter.] It's just
that simple. If I'm not already--I probably am already a
member, but I'll make it a point that I do become one. And my
colleague, Congressperson Jim Banks. I don't know whether Jim
is here or not, but he's from the Slovak Caucus in the House of
Representatives.
And if you don't mind, Brian, I'll start out with the
questioning and then turn to you. And we're expecting that
Roger might have an opportunity to stop by. He or Ben, we don't
know just yet.
But, Mr. Chairperson, you've had an opportunity to make a
few visits to OSCE countries. And I remarked to you of the
chairs in office that I have known--and I have known six
personally and gotten to know them extremely well when I was
president of the Parliamentary Assembly of OSCE--I know none
that have made as many visits as you have in the short time
that you are in office. But in making these visits this year to
Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, not to mention the
conflict areas that have been with us quite some time, did you
have an opportunity to meet with civil society during your
visits, or during this visit to the United States?
Mr. Lajcak. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And yes, indeed, we
want to be and trying to be a very active and a useful
chairmanship. And therefore we are wasting no time. We've only
got one year if we want to make a difference. And therefore I
paid my first visit to Ukraine already in mid-January, which
was followed immediately by visit to Moldova. Later on, I
visited Azerbaijan, Armenia, and before that, Georgia. These
were the visits focusing on the crisis area--whether they're
hot crises, or not conflicts, or protracted conflicts. And I
dedicated my attention to engaging with policymakers.
At the same time, engagement with civil society is very
high on our agenda. Civil society was present in two high-level
events that we've already convened in Slovakia, the conferences
I was referring to. I'm going to visit Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan next week. And the meetings with the civil society
are part of my schedule, as they will be part of my schedule in
visiting other three countries of the Central Asia or the
Western Balkans regions.
And I'm also planning to organize a special meeting in
Vienna with the civil societies from the crises regions to hear
their view. So we intend to engage, and we will do that. And we
obviously also expect the participation of civil society at the
ministerial meeting in December.
Mr. Hastings. That's very much appreciated. We know we're
having difficulties in certain locales. And I've experienced
it, as you have. I've also experienced the critical positive
nature that the NGOs bring to developing societies, with their
now OSCE mandate and our mission as we go forward. Said to you
earlier that when I joined this organization we, in my very
first meeting, had a whole afternoon session on migration. And
this was in the 1990s.
And so how OSCE countries address migration is becoming key
to the preservation of democracy, people, and unity in much of
the OSCE region, with well-deserved, and well-designed, and
fairly implemented migration and integration policies also
having a positive effect on combating intolerance.
While efforts such as the OSCE High Commission on National
Minorities work on so-called new minorities and advancing best
practices, such as those reflected in Ljubljana Guidelines on
Integration of Diverse Societies, be continued and revisited
for possible implementation, and what other plans are there
within ODIHR to address areas that impact human rights, and the
social and economic integration of migrants, such as protecting
against employment discrimination and ensuring equal access to
quality education and housing, in addition to combating hate
crimes.
And I regret to say this, that I highlight the fact that
the first meeting that I attended discussed migration, but
every meeting thereafter that I attended, well on into 2008, as
I remember, had equivalent discussions with reference to
migration. So I leave you with the question, Mr. Minister.
Mr. Lajcak. Well, you are asking the right question, Mr.
Chairman. [Laughter.] Migration is obviously a question--or an
issue that is very high on the agenda not only for the OSCE but
for other international organizations, and also for national
governments. And last year was a very important year related to
migration also in my career, because in July I was applauding
as the president of the United Nations General Assembly--and I
had tears in my eyes--when the General Assembly agreed on the
text of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular
Migration--the first ever multilateral document trying to
address the issue of migration from the global perspective and
trying to manage. And then in November I submitted my
resignation as the foreign minister of Slovakia when my
country--my own country--pulled out of signing this document.
So migration is very close to my heart.
When I speak about effective multilateralism, it's also
about better complementarity and synergy with other
international organizations. So right now we believe the lead
in addressing the issues of migration belongs to the United
Nations. After the meeting in Marrakesh, after the adoption of
the Global Compact, there are meetings discussing the
implementation of this document. And at the same time, for
European nations, the European Union is another platform where
migration is discussed very thoroughly and in great detail.
So migration is present in discussions within the OSCE,
because simply it's present in our daily lives. But it's not
formally among the priorities for our chairmanship, because we
simply don't want to interfere with the work of other
international bodies and partners. But obviously, as I said,
wherever you go, whoever you talk to, this issue is part of the
debate, because it's part of our daily life. And I'm very sorry
to say that we are still struggling. We are still reacting. We
are still somehow going through painful process to find the
right answers to this global phenomenon.
Mr. Hastings. Right, and I think you're onto where we will
resolve it, if at all, and that is with multilateralism. It
isn't going to come about--I mean, each country can do its own
thing, as it were, and will, but we are better when we work
together in that regard.
We've also been joined by the new ranking member of our
Helsinki Commission, and that is Congressman Joe Wilson from
South Carolina. And, Joe, I'm going to ask one more question
now and then ask Brian and then come back to you, if you don't
mind.
Mr. Wilson. Excellent.
Mr. Hastings. Okay. Real good.
Close to my concern, in light of the fact that I'm one of
the prime movers--I sound like a bragging society up here
sometimes, but I'm proud of the work that I've done in the OSCE
over the years--but I was one of the prime movers in creating
the Mediterranean Partners. And just as how when you were
meeting with NATO you can get them to understand something: We
did the Mediterranean P'artners in the Parliamentary Assembly
before they got involved in NATO. So they kind of got the idea
from us, I like to think--although, they were on their way as
well.
At the last ministerial council in Milan, the participating
states passed a declaration on security and cooperation in the
Mediterranean. The declaration called for Mediterranean-related
issues to be clearly reflected throughout the relevant work of
the OSCE across the three dimensions of comprehensive security,
among other things. How do you plan to use your chairmanship to
advance the goals of this declaration? Are there other
initiatives regarding the Mediterranean Partners and the region
in general that you wish to pursue? And what are the main
obstacles you perceive to enhancing cooperation with and among
the Mediterranean Partners for cooperation?
And, Mr. Minister, when I was extremely active I spent a
considerable amount of time in this arena. As a matter of fact,
I think I'm the only chair of the Parliamentary Assembly that
visited all six of the Mediterranean Partners on more than one
occasion. I still consider it critical for us. For example, in
the area of migration, how could we really ignore Morocco,
Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt, and Israel, and then have
discussions about migration knowing full well that all of them
are having either similar problems or perpetuating parts of our
problems, dependent upon what transpires in terms of their
people leaving their countries? So toward that end, I leave you
with the country. And then, Brian, if you would.
Mr. Lajcak. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And as you
know very well, the troika model in the OSCE works quite
efficiently. And there is also a division of labor within the
troika.
So last year when Slovakia was still incoming chairmanship,
we were already responsible for Mediterranean Partnership. So
we organized a meeting in Malta and I was presiding over the
meeting in end of October. The meeting was dedicated to
particular issue of energy, and energy cooperation, energy
security. But you are very much right, Mr. Chairman, saying
that, I mean, all three dimensions of the OSCE work are very
relevant. And when we speak about migration, of course
Mediterranean Partners are extremely important.
So we have--I'm very glad that we have this platform. You
asked, where I see the challenges. Well, I was a bit
disappointed that we did not have a political representation
from our six Mediterranean Partners. And obviously we'd--I used
to be a bureaucrat myself, but you have a different level of
discussion among politicians and among experts. And this is a
platform that OSCE is offering to partners. And I ask, what is
wrong? Why the partners do not show up at the level that the
OSCE participating States are showing up?
So this is what we need to explore. And we are working on
it. Malta is proposing, creating a position of the special
representative for Mediterranean Partnership, if it will bring
an added value.
What we want is to use the platforms for a meaningful
dialog. We are all busy people. We have so many
responsibilities. So to go to meetings with little value added
is just a waste of time. But I believe in this importance of
this dimension, the Mediterranean dimension of the OSCE work.
So I really hope that we will be able to use the potential of
this platform.
Mr. Hastings. Let me ask you to do, as I'm going to do, and
that's to ask George [Tsereteli] if he would use his good
offices--that's our Parliamentary Assembly chair. I spent a lot
of time--and it was personal time, a lot of it calls and
exchanges--and I know him extremely well, and I know you do as
well. So let's pressure him to see if he can pull them together
for, if nothing more--where are we meeting, Luxembourg? In
Luxembourg and see if we can get as many of them as possible
there. All right?
Thank you.
Brian.
Mr. Lajcak. Will do.
HON. BRIAN FITZPATRICK, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY
AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Fitzpatrick. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Pleasure to be
with you on the commission here. Sir, congratulations. Thank
you for being here. And you come from a very beautiful country.
I spent a little bit of time Bratislava as an FBI agent, and
it's a great city and a beautiful country. Congratulations on
all the progress your country has made as well.
I want to touch on two issues, one specific to Ukraine,
another more general. The annexation of Crimea, the ongoing
invasion in eastern Ukraine in the Donbas region. I'm the co-
chair of the Ukrainian Caucus here in Congress. There's been
some concern regarding military training, lack of support in
Donbas, and the precedent that we're setting by allowing an
annexation to occur in clear violation of international law
with impunity. What role do you think this commission should
play, and yourself?
And second, on the broader issue of corruption, the
majority of my time I spent in Ukraine was standing up the--
they call it the NABU, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. It
was designed to fight high-level corruption at higher levels of
the government, which is clearly a problem in Ukraine and in
many parts of that region--parts of the world as well. And so
many of the challenges, when we look at economic instability,
political instability, human rights violations, they're
symptomatic of what we consider the root cause issues--one of
which is corruption. It's a huge problem in many regions of the
world. What would you like to see our commission do in
partnership with you to help that, because it's something I'm
very, very passionate about.
Mr. Lajcak. Ukraine is, of course, the top of our list of
priorities as the chairmanship of the OSCE, for obvious
reasons, because we have a hot conflict. People are suffering.
People are dying on a daily basis. And we need to do something
about it. At the same time, Ukraine is our neighbor for
Slovakia. So we have been very active in assisting Ukraine ever
since the beginning. And let me remind you that by building the
gas interconnection, Slovakia allowed for a reverse flow of gas
from Europe to Ukraine, and thus guaranteeing the energy
independence--energy security for Ukraine. And this has really
changed the picture, because Ukraine could no longer be
blackmailed through the gas negotiations.
My first visit took me to Ukraine. On 15th of January I
went to Kyiv. I met with the prime minister, minister of
foreign affairs, but also minister of defense. And I asked
them: What can we do together? What can we achieve together?
This is a particular year. You have presidential elections, you
have parliamentary elections. But this is not an excuse to do
nothing because, as I said, the people are suffering. So I
said, Let us try to identify what we can do together. Next day
I--and I have to say that--I will come to it. We had a very
good discussion with our partners.
Next day I went to the only crossing point in the Luhansk
area, the bridge, Stanytsia Luhanska. And it's really a very
sobering experience when you see more than 10,000 crossing this
bridge daily, waiting in lines to get all the permissions, and
then walking for two kilometers. Most of these people with
difficulties to walk. And the bridge is damaged and needs to be
repaired. And there is the famous lack of political will to
agree on parameters, even though the project is there, the
budget is there. So we put the repairing of the Stanytsia
Luhanska Bridge on top of list of things we want to accomplish.
I referred to this list. There are nine concrete measures.
This is No. 1. And I am also using my meeting with the U.S.
partners to ask for the U.S. support. There are issues like
protecting civilian infrastructure, humanitarian mine action,
exchange of detainees, for example, addressing environmental
challenges. And this is what we want to do so that people see
that we care, because they don't have this feeling. They are
very disappointed. They are very frustrated. They think nobody
really cares about it.
The issue of annexation of Crimea is the issue that we have
been addressing very clearly. And I--not agree fully with you
that Russia got away with impunity, because there was immediate
reaction from the international community. And sanctions were
introduced at the level of European Union. And the sanctions
are still enforced. NATO changed its strategic posture, has
reinforced the eastern flank as a consequence of this, and
there are many other measures.
We've recently--well, issued a number of statements
reminding ourselves of the fifth anniversary since this illegal
annexation. I spoke about it in my opening speech to the OSCE
Permanent Council in January. And we made it very clear that
this issue will not disappear. But what we need to do is to
demonstrate to the Ukrainian people that the international
community is with them, so that they don't feel abandoned.
And the issue of corruption is--unfortunately, it's a
plague that is present in the society. And what is very
important is that we speak about it and that we demand action.
And your commission has a very high credibility speaking about
these issues. So I would like to encourage you to raise these
issues. But let's make it very clear that the corruption cannot
be addressed by adopting laws, but only by implementing laws.
So there is a big distance between adoption and
introduction into real life, and implementation. So let's judge
our partners and friends, not by number of laws they have
adopted but by the effectiveness with which they are
implementing these laws, and with the impact these laws are
having on the functioning of the society. And this will help
them. And this will help all of us.
Mr. Hastings. Thank you. Before going to you, Joe, I'd like
to introduce Senator Cory Gardner, who has joined us. And then
Joe and then Cory. I ask, was that a vote that you were
called----
Mr. Gardner. It was a quorum call.
Mr. Hastings. Quorum call. So you all have an hour to get
to the quorum call. [Laughter.] Go ahead, Joe.
HON. JOE WILSON, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And thank
you for welcoming me to the commission at the Capitol building.
I look forward to working together with you. And it's
particularly significant, Chairperson, to be here with you with
the Republic of Slovakia. I had the opportunity--one of the
first things I heard when I got here was the importance of
NGOs. Well, I know it personally. In 1995, I participated in
lecturing in Slovakia. I found out the extraordinary history of
Bratislava, what a beautiful country Slovakia is, the heart of
Europe. And I then had the opportunity to work with the
Ambassador Peter Burian very closely. And he came to my home
state to observe a presidential primary. And as the voters were
leaving, we were shaking hands and I was introducing the Slovak
ambassador. And we found out that a high percentage had Slovak
heritage. So that we have a shared heritage that we greatly
appreciate. And I wish you well on your service.
Mr. Lajcak. Thank you very much, sir.
Mr. Wilson. And over the years, you've been very active in
Balkan affairs, including as the high representative in Bosnia
and as a moderator, or mediator during the Montenegrin
independence referendum.
Now that you chair the OSCE, what challenges do you see
still in the region? And what role can the OSCE play in meeting
the challenges? We're glad to see the progress in relations
between Greece and North Macedonia, but do you have any
optimism concerning developments in Bosnia, or in relations
between Serbia and Kosovo?
Mr. Lajcak. Thank you. Thank you, sir. And you might know
that Peter Burian is now the European Union Special
Representative for Central Asia.
Mr. Wilson. Hear, hear.
Mr. Lajcak. And he's doing a great job there. Yes. And we
are very proud of him.
Mr. Wilson. Best wishes to him.
Mr. Lajcak. I'll see him very soon, yes.
Western Balkans is a region that has made significant
progress since the end of the tragic Yugoslav War. And we do
not face, let's say, security challenges--challenges to peace.
But there are many other challenges. The process of
transformation of their societies, and I would say
Europeanization of their societies, is uneven. And of course,
we have success stories, countries like Croatia that is already
a member of the European Union and NATO, or we have Albania and
Montenegro, who are members of NATO, and then we have Bosnia-
Herzegovina that is struggling. Of course, Kosovo's struggling
with its identity. So we need to keep our eye and pay our
attention to the region. We need to stay engaged.
I'm absolutely convinced that the best future for the
region is a European future. That means the future membership
in the European Union. And they have this promise. What is
really important is that this goal is seen as credible,
realistic, and tangible. That there is no feeling of European
Union moving the goalposts, because if we want European
reforms, and they are very painful, they need to see the
endgame, which is the membership. And the European Union--I'm
personally a very strong believer in the European project. And
I've dedicated my professional life to bring my country into
the European Union.
The fact is that since several years the European Union has
been busy with internal issues, migration crisis, before the
financial crisis, now the Brexit crisis. And we sort of lost
focus from the region of the western Balkans. And this
resulted, I would say, in the less-enthusiastic approach to
reforms. So what I experienced myself is that the region is
moving in the right direction every time the European Union and
the U.S. are working hand-in-hand, realizing and understanding
that it should be the European Union that is the face, because
it's the European Union that is offering the perspective.
So we need to keep the European perspective alive and, as I
said, credible and tangible. What I see as--there are no
unsolvable problems. The name issue for North Macedonia seemed
unsolvable for 20-plus years, and yet it was done. And it took
two leaders with vision, with courage, and they delivered. So
what I see as most pertinent issues right now is the lack of
progress in the dialog between Belgrade and Pristina. And I
believe that we should focus more on it, and demand both
partners to solve their open issues through this dialog.
And then the functionality, or rather the lack of
functionality, of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The good thing, as I
said, is that these are not the problems that could result in
conflicts. No, I mean, the region is past that stage. But
people are losing faith. They are losing confidence in the
future of their countries. The young generation is leaving
these countries in huge numbers. And this is very bad. So
therefore, we need to bring this trust back into these
countries. We need to engage more with them.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much. And the OSCE plays an
important role in negotiations to end conflicts, including the
2008 invasion of Georgia by Russian forces. What is the status
of OSCE actions in Georgia? Again, a newly democratic country,
a very dynamic country. I've had the opportunity to visit
Georgia, and you can actually see the fences that the Russian
Federation had placed as part of their occupation. And what is
your role to try to mediate?
Mr. Lajcak. I visited Georgia as part of my introductory
visits. And of course, I've been in Georgia many times before,
but this was first time in my capacity. I also went to visit
the line of contact with the South Ossetia. And you see how
much this really divides villages and how much it interferes
with people's lives.
And at that time, the crossing points were closed, so I
used my coming visit to Moscow to urge the Russian side to use
their influence to have these points reopened. The good thing
is that the Georgian situation could be defined as protracted
conflict or frozen conflict, because people are not dying. Not
on daily basis. So at the same time, it's been more than 10
years, and we would wish to see, of course a greater progress.
We have two mechanisms, Geneva International Dialogue and
the IPRM, which is the incidents prevention and resolving
mechanisms. So we need to invest into these--into these two
mechanisms to keep them alive and to address the issues through
these formats. So this is very important. And we need to be
patient.
I obviously met my interlocutor's partners in Jordan
government, and I appreciated the constructive approach that
the government has taken adopting a strategy document that
steps into the future which is trying to engage with citizens
and being very generous with citizens of these two occupied
territories, allowing for medical services and other services.
And I think it's really very important that you keep the dialog
and keep the contact at the people's level while making sure
that we are trying to address the political issues at a
political level.
Mr. Wilson. Very important, thank you so much.
And my final question: In many ways the OSCE has been a
pioneer in cybersecurity issues. In 2013 participating states
agreed to the first-ever set of cybersecurity confidence-
building measures. How does the chairmanship view the continued
contributions of these confidence-building measures in a
climate in which the state-directed cyberattacks appear to be
increasing in frequency and severity?
Mr. Lajcak. Cybersecurity is an issue that is influencing
our daily lives, and we are paying attention to the
cybersecurity within the OSCE as well. And I referred to a
number of high-level conferences in my introductory remarks. We
have already organized two, and the one in June will be
dedicated to this issue of cybersecurity. And I am already
trying to present this conference as a very special event
because if the security in the 20th century was about
protecting borders, about hard security, security in the 21st
century is very much defined by the cyberspace.
And we need to understand this new narrative of security,
and we want to use this conference in June in Bratislava to
offer this new perspective on security because, if we want to
be able to counter the challenges that are coming from the
cyberspace, we need to be able to define and to understand
them. So I really hope--and I've already invited also the
participants from the United States to come and share their
experience and knowledge about cyberspace and cybersecurity.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, and I look forward to
working with the chairman in the future.
Mr. Hastings. All right, Senator, before you begin, let me
introduce Commissioner Gwendolyn Moore, who has just joined us.
She is from Wisconsin.
All right, Senator.
HON. CORY GARDNER, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Gardner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your
time here today before the commission.
This morning Secretary General Stoltenberg talked about the
conflict in Ukraine and the illegal annexation/invasion by
Russia being the first action of forcefully taking of a country
since World War II.
Looking back at the action in Ukraine in 2014, Georgia in
2008, but particularly Ukraine, what should the U.S. or OSCE
have done differently in response? Your comment--we must make
the people of Ukraine feel that we are with them, I think, is
what you said. What should we have done differently in 2014 and
after in Ukraine--U.S. and, in your opinion, OSCE?
Mr. Lajcak. I don't think we have made any mistakes on the
side of our organizations, but probably we did not react
properly to 2008 in Georgia. And this was--well, there were
some measures taken, but we were not really--we as an
international community, not only OSCE, but also NATO and
European Union--not really consistent with our reaction. And
probably--well, if we had the chance to go back in time,
probably that reaction should have been different back then to
prevent future actions like this.
Second point is that--and I feel very strongly about it--
that we really need to use the multilateral system that was
created after the World War II for a real dialog. It needed
critical dialog. We need to use these platforms to speak up,
and to raise the right questions, and to demand answers because
somehow, more and more, we are meeting in these formal meeting
rooms to exchange monologues rather than to engage in real
dialog. And the dialog is happening on the sidelines somehow in
different formats.
But I--you know, before 2014 there were--and you know very
well, Mr. Chairman--there were questions about the need for
OSCE to continue existing, and there were different agendas--
Corfu process and others, Helsinki plus 40--and then the
Ukrainian crisis came and all of a sudden everyone realized
that there is no organization better suited to deal with it
than the OSCE because you have the political level--the
Permanent Council--and you have the presence on the ground. And
OSCE has the primary mandate in dealing with the Ukrainian
issue. We have 1,500-plus monitors in the Special Monitoring
Mission, and every other organization--U.N., NATO, European
Union--is relying on the facts found and delivered by the OSCE
organization.
So therefore we really need to use the potential of
international organizations. And every time we see signals--
because these things do not happen out of the blue--but again,
way too often--and I am now speaking not as the chairperson but
as a professional diplomat of 30 years--we way too often tend
to ignore the signals that something is going wrong and bad
things are about to happen. And we only start acting after they
have happened, so the prevention is extremely, extremely
important. And I really believe that we can do a better job
here in preventing conflict.
Mr. Gardner. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Hastings. Senator.
Ms. Moore?
HON. GWEN MOORE, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Ms. Moore. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and excuse my
tardiness. Lots of things happening, but I really wanted to be
here.
So Mr. Chairman and members of the Helsinki Commission, and
His Excellency, Mr. Chairperson of the OSCE, it's nice to see
you again. I met you briefly in Germany, and I'm happy to be
here today.
And I tell you that you leaned into one of my concerns,
that this is probably a really, really critical time in the
OSCE organization and your chairmanship at this time. And I'm
thinking--because one of our partners, the Russian Federation,
certainly has violated all of the Helsinki principles as we
have so carefully constructed them--these violations are things
that we need to address, and I am concerned about the
reputational risk to the OSCE unless we have a plan of action
to deal with the Russian Federation.
Also, like--unless you've already done it--to sort of
describe what your impressions were when you visited Ukraine in
January. I thought that that was a great act of political
courage on your part to really lean into one of the primary
sorts of issues that we have, and I just want to get your
feedback as to what you think the OSCE can do more to resolve
the violations of the Russian Federation, and what you think
the internal status is of the Ukrainians.
Thank you.
Mr. Lajcak. Thank you, Madam Commissioner. And obviously as
the chairperson in office of the OSCE I'm not in a position to
judge the participating states since I am speaking on behalf of
the organization, but what I want to say is that OSCE is unique
in many aspects, and one of the aspects is that OSCE is one of
the few international bodies where United States and Russian
Federation are sitting in the same room at the same table.
There is no--there are not that many others; probably only the
United Nations, which of course has 193 members. So therefore
we have to use this fact to look eye-to-eye and to talk about
issues, and to use this potential and this unique platform.
This is what makes the OSCE unique.
And therefore, as I just spoke about, I really believe that
there is a lot of potential of the OSCE that has not been used
yet. And I am a strong believer in a dialog, and I am
absolutely certain that a critical dialog is better than no
dialog at all. And talking to each other is better than talking
about each other. And OSCE----
Ms. Moore. I'll steal that one. [Laughter.]
Mr. Lajcak. Please, feel free. [Laughs.]
And OSCE gives us this platform, so we'll have to use it to
address these issues because it covers the huge territory from
Vancouver to Vladivostok. There are so many things we can do,
and we have to.
Way too often the work of the organization--and OSCE is not
the only one--is blocked because of some issues not really
related to the core business of the organizations. We still
don't have the agreed budget for this year because of unrelated
issue, but it's already April and this is really limiting our
activity. So this is one of the examples of how we need to use
the potential of the organization.
The second part of your question about Ukraine, for us, the
focus on people is very much our priority, and we want to show
that there is a political level of processes that are different
mechanisms, but there are people, and these people need to see
that there is someone who cares about them. And being a
politician myself, I know what lack of political will means.
That means you don't want to agree; you don't want to reach a
deal.
But when I was standing on that bridge, which is, as I
said, the only crossing point in the Lugansk area--people have
to travel more than 100 kilometers to get there, to wait in
line to cross these two kilometers. Try to tell them that there
is no political will and I wonder what their reaction would be.
And these people are so--they are beyond frustration, they are
not even frustrated. They like have given up. They don't trust
anyone. So therefore we are trying to identify the issues how
to help them. If we widen the de-mine zone around schools, the
kindergartens, hospitals, nobody is losing. Everybody is
winning, for example.
If you try to introduce the bus line so that the people
will be able to travel also by bus or by train and not
necessarily on foot, no one is losing. Everybody is winning. So
this is what we are trying to do--not losing focus on the big
picture but understanding that there are real people, and real
destinies, and real lives beyond that. And if we will be able
to help to ease the suffering of some of these people during
our year, I will be very happy.
Ms. Moore. His Excellency, I just wanted to commend you on
your focus on youth. I think just--when you talked about
prevention that is just--the quintessential strategy for
preventing chaos is to deal with the youth.
Are there any particular initiatives that you can share
with us that we ought to amplify through OSCE? I'm thinking
when we go back for our July meeting we might be prepared to
come up with some resolutions that address some of your
priorities in that area.
Mr. Lajcak. We want to make sure that youth is part of
everything we do because we don't want to, like, organize one
event dedicated to youth and then continue the business as
usual. So we are reaching out to young people, and we want to
hear their opinion, particularly in the third, the human
dimension of our activities. We want to make sure that they
feel that OSCE is also their organization and they have their
say in everything that OSCE is doing.
Ms. Moore. Thank you.
I yield back to you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Hastings. I would like to piggyback on Ms. Moore's
comment in that regard and to emphasize the fact that in
cybersecurity, young people know a hell of a lot more about
what's going on than we do. And if you don't think that's true,
ask your 8-year-old. Just let he or she pick up your cell phone
and see what they do with it that you don't know how to do.
And that's true of all of us in each of the dimensions. So
the earlier that we turn to some particular program that allows
for youth to have some advantages that we as adults don't share
at that moment, the better off we will be, particularly in the
area of cybersecurity. And I mean that most sincerely.
You don't need to be introduced to a friend. Senator Roger
Wicker is here, and you know him extremely well.
HON. ROGER F. WICKER, CO-CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Wicker. Well, thank you very much, and I appreciate my
two House colleagues, who are usually under the 5-minute rule,
for filibustering long enough to keep this hearing going--
[laughter]--so I could get down here. I'm sorry I'm late, and
I'm sorry I've missed a good bit of it.
But Mr. Minister, we are thrilled to see you, and my
goodness, it's great to be back with my friend of longstanding
and colleague, Alcee Hastings, and to see you looking so good,
Alcee.
Mr. Hastings. Yes, I'm holding on. I'm fighting.
Mr. Wicker. I'll tell you, it's just wonderful. It's
wonderful.
And we've worked on a bipartisan basis, bicameral basis to
make the strong statement that the Helsinki Commission is
relevant to so much that is going on these days; that our
participation in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is absolutely
pertinent to so many issues.
My colleagues and I were at a joint meeting of Congress
earlier today with the secretary general of NATO, where there
is quite a bit of overlap, and I think--I think we're making a
statement and it continues this afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Ms.
Moore, in this hearing today from the chair in office. And
we're delighted at Slovakia's chairmanship this year, and
thrilled to have our friend, Miroslav Lajcak, with us.
For more than 40 years the OSCE has worked to bolster
security, democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human
rights. Certainly--I don't know if Senator Cardin has been able
to touch base today, but he and I, along with other members of
the Helsinki Commission, introduced a resolution in 2017 to
recognize the importance of the Helsinki Final Act and the
OSCE, as well as their relevance to American national security.
And I can tell you, Mr. Chairman, when you ask the generals
who have jurisdiction in Europe what they think of OSCE, they
say it's a valuable tool, not only to get the parliaments
together, but also to provide information, sometimes that we're
not able to get from any other source in Europe.
We're a 57-member organization that operates--has to
operate by consensus, and certainly we've had our challenges.
Unfortunately, as the secretary general of NATO pointed out
today, Russia has tried in many ways to abuse its power in OSCE
to block consensus and use the power of the purse to paralyze
our mission.
We hope that improves. I'd like to see the day when there
is not this conflict within our Parliamentary Assembly with our
Russian membership. But Russia has attempted to redefine
European borders--let's just face it, it's a fact--through
force, so countering the Russian Federation's clear, gross,
uncorrected violations of all ten OSCE core principles should
be among the highest priorities for any OSCE chairmanship.
Mr. Chairman, we appreciate the fact that you visited
Ukraine in January. I understand there has been some Q&A in
that regard. I'm also heartened that someone with a deep
understanding of the Balkans is engaged at this critical time.
I had the opportunity to lead in July a nine-member,
bicameral, bipartisan delegation to Bosnia. I believe Ms. Moore
was with us on that occasion. Our trip included trips of course
to the federation part but also to Republika Srpska, and it was
an eye opener, I can tell you.
I remain deeply concerned about the region as a whole, and
perhaps we can hear you elaborate on your views as how we might
strengthen the process of democratic reform, fight against
corruption, and fight against regional instability. We stopped
a bloody conflagration there over a decade--over two decades
ago, but I'm afraid we're frozen right now, and I'm deeply
concerned and heartbroken that the people of the Balkans are
not well served some decades after NATO and the United States
and others came in and helped stabilize the situation.
Finally, we're honored to have you here today, Mr.
Minister, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the
founding of NATO and 15 years after Slovakia joined this
essential transatlantic alliance. It was great to see Secretary
Pompeo visit Slovakia in February. As he said as he stood
before Slovakia's Gate of Freedom memorial, remembering the
more than 400 innocents who lost their lives attempting to flee
communism: We stand in unity with the people of Slovakia and
Europe in recommitting to a future that is more prosperous,
secure and, most of all, free.
So just to echo the kind words of support that I know have
already been expressed today, I wish you every success. Thank
you much for being here, and if there is anything you would
like to add based on my comments, I would certainly be glad to
hear them, although I don't wish to prolong the event for those
who have been here for quite some time.
Mr. Hastings. Actually, I was going to ask the minister if
he had a minute more for one or two more questions.
Mr. Lajcak. Yes, of course. I am at your disposal.
Mr. Hastings. Please respond.
Mr. Lajcak. I am not coming here that often, so of course
I----
Mr. Wicker. Did I say anything that requires a response or
elaboration, Mr. Minister?
Mr. Lajcak. Not an elaboration, but I would like to react
to a couple of statements you made, sir.
First, have no doubts about the relevance of this Helsinki
Commission. I mean, it's--the relevance is huge. It has had--I
mean, a very strong impact on the transition process in my own
country. There are many politicians in my country who are
scared when they hear about Helsinki Commission--[laughs]--and
rightly so, and you have been very strict in insisting on the
basic principles of the Helsinki document and respect for the
rule of law, and human rights, and non-discrimination. So my
wish for you is to continue doing what you have been doing so
successfully, because you have been instrumental in bringing
about changes in our part of the world.
And OSCE--as I said, it's a very unique organization
because--and I've seen it, again, during my years in the
Balkans--is seen as a partner thanks to the presence on the
ground, living side by side with people, sharing their daily
concerns, assisting them with practical issues--access to
water, electricity, basic services. People trust OSCE, and it's
really about the organization, about the OSCE, how we can turn
this trust and the knowledge from the ground into political
action.
And here, of course, we could wish for a better result,
because somehow we are not always processing the information in
the best interest of people we are supposed to serve here. So
this is the challenge for all of us.
And for the Western Balkans, I've already elaborated and I
don't want to repeat myself, because there was a question
before. I am more optimistic. I really believe that the region
is irreversibly on a positive trajectory. The process has
slowed down lately because the attention from European capitals
and from Brussels has been weakened, and this is an interaction
of two partners. So very briefly, what I want to see is
European standards; I mean, insisting on the countries
bringing--introducing European standards in every aspect of
their lives and the functioning of their societies. It will not
come if they don't believe in the European perspective, and
this is something the European Union should guarantee for them.
And second, to give young people trust in the future--in
their future lives in their countries so they don't have to
think about leaving their countries and looking for opportunity
somewhere else. And this is an issue that is very much present
in the region.
But they are both doable, and there is also an
understanding in the international organization that this needs
to be done. I will visit the region--now in my capacity of the
chairperson in office--all the countries because OSCE is
present in each and every one of them, to try to address the
issues on the ground, talking to people, including the young
generation and civil society actors.
In Slovakia, civil society is very active, very dynamic,
very influential, and this has been instrumental in a
successful transformation of our country. So we know what civil
society means and therefore we are very much in favor of
working with civil society in other countries and encouraging
civil societies to play their role because they are, I would
say, the critical voice, the watchdogs. They are making sure
that politicians know that they are under public scrutiny. And
that's extremely important for every sound democratic society.
Mr. Hastings. Ms. Moore, you had something you wished to
add.
Ms. Moore. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you
for your indulgence.
I just wanted to commemorate the second anniversary of the
death of someone who originates and emanates from my district
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and that's Joseph Stone. Joseph Stone
was a medic, a contractor for the OSCE who was killed in April
2017. I just wanted to mention for the record that, while OSCE
is not a peacekeeping force, it's not an army--that many of our
members, in their efforts to humanitarian missions, put their
lives in danger for the common good and for our purposes, and I
just wanted to remember Joseph Stone.
And Mr. Chairman, thank you so much for your indulgence.
And please let the record reflect that we mentioned this.
Mr. Hastings. It shall without question. And the [OSCE
Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine] speaks for itself, and
hopefully we can enlarge it. It is particularly critical that
we have on-the-ground forces, and Mr. Stone is thanked--his
family for his bravery and his contribution with his life to
better the concerns for all of us.
Mr. Minister, we didn't get to tolerance and
discrimination. We didn't get to Central Asia. We didn't get to
counterterrorism. We didn't get to beneficial ownership
registries which my country is dealing with at this point. And
certainly we didn't spend as much time as we would like on
economic and environmental dimension.
But the fact of the matter is that we covered a lot of
ground, and you were very clear. And I deeply appreciate it.
One thing I would say to my colleagues--and I say it to
them often--is that if we travel more--meaning members of the
Helsinki Commission--it helps even if we--with limited time on
the ground. And Senator Wicker has seen fit that we do that as
often as we can as a collaborative on the CODELS [congressional
delegations], but I encourage, even when it is not our CODEL,
if it's a Helsinki Commission on somebody else's CODEL, and
they raise the issues that are pertinent to the OSCE, that it
always is helpful.
And I'll leave you with this and how important it is that
you visit. Karimov, before his death--I consider myself to have
become a friend of his, and the reason for that is--again, a
little more bragging--I'm the only individual that I know in
the U.S. Congress that spent a week in Uzbekistan. But in
addition to having spent a week there, I visited there five
different times. So I went there with a group whose name will
be not mentioned, and he treated us royally, he really did. And
as we were about to leave, one of them asked, You've been so
nice to us. What could we do to help you? He said, You could do
like Mr. Hastings. You could come here more, okay?
So I think if more of us in the American Congress were to
travel about the world more rather than what I've seen in the
last decade--us tending to listen to our media who tells us
that if we travel we're not doing the business of our
colleagues.
You know, I wanted to share with you the plight that we all
have of young people leaving for greener pastures. Senator
Wicker and Ms. Moore, and myself, and Joe Wilson--not so much
Cory Gardner who was here earlier--I don't think he has the
kind of rural areas that Senator Wicker, and Ms. Moore and I,
and Wilson have. And believe it or not, we're having that exact
same issue in our respective jurisdictions and constituencies
where they are seeking greener pastures.
Somewhere along the line we have to, through
multilateralism, find green enough pastures for all of these
children to land in safe spaces.
Thank you so very much, Mr. Minister. This hearing is
adjourned.
Mr. Lajcak. Thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 4:54 p.m., the hearing ended.]
=======================================================================
A P P E N D I X
=======================================================================
Prepared Statements
----------
Prepared Statement of Hon. Alcee L. Hastings
Mr. Chairperson, Mr. Foreign Minister, I warmly welcome you
to the United States Congress and thank you for giving us the
opportunity to hear your views as the OSCE Chairperson-in-
Office.
As you may know, this is the first hearing of the Helsinki
Commission in the 116th Congress. I intend, as chairperson, to
build and maintain active U.S. engagement in the OSCE, based on
principled foreign policy, and a belief that we--and by ``we,''
I mean here the United States--must practice what we preach.
I will also continue the strong parliamentary diplomacy
that has been a hallmark of this commission since it was
created. Having previously served as the president of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly, I know how important robust engagement
from our legislative bodies is to the OSCE. To foster this
exchange, you and others should expect a robust calendar of
hearings like this one, chaired by myself and other
Commissioners to explore all aspects of our partnership.
I commend my colleagues from the Helsinki Commission,
including Co-Chairman Wicker, for their service in leadership
roles in the assembly as well as your colleague, member of the
Slovak Parliament Peter Osusky, who successfully headed the
short-term election observation mission in Armenia last year.
OSCE election observation is the gold standard, and we were
happy to have OSCE observers here for our congressional
elections last fall.
If I may, I will also take one more minute to commend
another of your countrymen, President Andrej Kiska. President
Kiska was honored recently by the German Council of Sinti and
Roma for his leadership in countering anti-Roma racism. That is
really a great honor for all of Slovakia. As you may know, the
commission has long championed efforts to promote the security
and equality of Roma and supported the development of OSCE
efforts to address anti-Semitism, racism, and other forms of
intolerance even towards Black Europeans. Efforts that embrace
the entireties of our societies are critical to the future of
the OSCE and hope that your country will continue its focus on
these issues this year.
Mr. Minister, as you know, the Helsinki Commission's
engagement with Slovakia dates to 1990, even before
independence, and I was personally fortunate to have the
opportunity to visit Slovakia in 2008. I congratulate Slovakia
on the election of your new president, Zuzana Caputova on
Saturday.
It is wonderful to see your country in this leadership role
today. Chairing the 57-country OSCE is no easy task and we are
grateful that Slovakia has taken up this challenge. As my
colleagues, Senators Wicker and Cardin, wrote in the Woodrow
Wilson Quarterly last fall, the OSCE's mission is as important
as ever. I am very happy to be able to continue the Helsinki
Commission's tradition of hosting a discussion with the country
holding the OSCE chairmanship and I look forward to hearing
your views on how we can best meet the challenges that we face
together.
Introduction of Chairperson Miroslav Lajcak
Mr. Chairperson, we have circulated your full biography so
I will not repeat all of it here but I would like to note a few
things in particular.
Miroslav Lajcak is a career diplomat with a distinguished
career serving both his country and the international
community. In addition to representing Slovakia in numerous
positions, he served as High Representative of the
International Community and Special Representative of the
European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was a key figure
in the mediation of the post-conflict crises in the western
Balkans and negotiated, organized and supervised the referendum
on the independence of Montenegro. Most recently, he served as
president of the United Nations General Assembly where he
advocated for dialogue, strengthening multilateralism, and
serving the needs of all people.
Prepared Statement of Hon. Roger L. Wicker
Thank you, Chairman Hastings. I join you in welcoming His
Excellency Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak before the Helsinki
Commission. I appreciate having the Foreign Minister's views
and expertise as the Helsinki Commission works to formulate
U.S. policy regarding the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Mr. Chairperson, welcome.
For more than 40 years, the OSCE has worked to bolster
security, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human
rights. In April 2017, Senator Cardin and I--along with every
other senator then serving on the Helsinki Commission--
introduced a resolution urging President Trump to recognize the
importance of the Helsinki Final Act and the OSCE as well as
their relevance to American national security. Peace and
prosperity in the OSCE region rests on respect for human rights
and the preservation of fundamental freedoms, democratic
principles, and economic liberty. At a time when civil society
is under threat in so many countries, we look to you, as the
Chair, to ensure that people's voices are heard in the OSCE.
Unfortunately, as a 57-member organization that operates by
consensus, the OSCE is not without internal challenges. Russia
has tried to use its vote to block consensus and the power of
the purse, paralyzing the OSCE's mission. Russia has also
attempted to redefine European borders through force.
Countering the Russian Federation's clear, gross, and
uncorrected violations of all 10 core OSCE principles should be
among the highest priorities of any OSCE chairmanship.
Mr. Chairperson, we appreciate that you visited Ukraine in
January and have underscored the importance of addressing the
war there and its humanitarian consequences.
I also am heartened that someone with your deep expertise
on the Balkans is engaged at this critical time. I had the
opportunity in July to lead a nine-member, bicameral,
bipartisan delegation to Bosnia and the Federal Republic of
Srpska. Frankly, I remain deeply concerned about the region as
a whole and would like to hear your views on how we might
strengthen the process of democratic reform, the fight against
corruption, and regional stability.
Finally, we are especially honored to have you here on the
occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of NATO and 15
years after Slovakia joined this essential transatlantic
alliance. It was great to see Secretary Pompeo visiting
Slovakia in February. As he said when he stood before
Slovakia's Gate of Freedom Memorial--remembering the more than
400 innocents who lost their lives attempting to flee
communism--he said we stand ``in unity with the people of
Slovakia in Europe in recommitting to a future that is more
prosperous, secure, and most of all, free.''
I wish you every success, and I look forward to your
insights and counsel on how we can make a better world for
future generations throughout the OSCE region. Thank you.
Prepared Statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin
Mr. Hastings, thank you for convening today's Helsinki
Commission hearing with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office,
Miroslav Lajcak, thus continuing our tradition of inviting the
OSCE's most senior political representative to be heard in
Washington.
Minister Lajcak, we are honored to have you here and
welcome your leadership of the world's largest regional
security organization.
The OSCE's main purpose is fostering peace in the Euro-
Atlantic and Eurasian spaces through a comprehensive approach
to security. We believe this institution continues to play an
important role in working towards this goal.
However, our common security is under continued challenge
by Russia's contempt for the international order. Trust is
damaged when one country blatantly violates international law.
The OSCE's crisis response capacity is critical in responding
to security concerns arising when OSCE commitments are
blatantly ignored, such as Russia's aggression in Ukraine and
Georgia.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been at the center of the
OSCE's focus for four years now. I welcome your strong
commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity
and look forward to hearing your views on this singular
challenge within the OSCE region and especially your assessment
of efforts to reach a solution that would restore Ukraine's
full control over its own territory.
Human rights and democracy are the beating heart of the
Helsinki process and it is critical that we preserve the
ability of civil society to participate fully in its meetings
and work. While I am deeply concerned about the erosion of
democratic norms in some parts of the OSCE, it is important
that we support, amplify, and replicate positive developments
where we can.
In Armenia, the nonviolent popular mobilization, free and
fair elections, and political transition in the past year are
causes for optimism in the post-Soviet space. The Armenian
experience speaks to the critical role that civil society and
respect for fundamental freedoms play in generating peaceful
and popular democratic change. This historic evolution in
Armenia richly deserves the support of the United States and
international community, including organizations such as the
OSCE. We are also interested in significant opportunities for
positive human rights developments in Uzbekistan.
I commend Slovakia for convening a conference on anti-
Semitism in February and appreciate the opportunity to share a
message with that meeting in my role as OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and
Intolerance.
I understand the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting that
took place this week in Vienna focused on religious intolerance
generally, and that future events will focus on Roma. Given the
recent tragedy in New Zealand targeting Muslims, and a
continuing escalation in hate crimes and discrimination towards
refugees and migrants, it is important that we also act
following these events. It is one reason I called upon OSCE
Parliamentarians to join me this year in reporting on efforts
they and their governments have engaged to in to stem the tide
of hate in their countries. As we have seen, unchecked hate
knows no bounds. I would be honored if we could work together
on an OSCE Anti-Discrimination and Inclusion Action Plan that
highlights government efforts and builds coalitions across all
our communities to address hate, as no community should have to
go it alone in this fight.
Mr. Foreign Minister, it has been 30 years since the Velvet
Revolution. I made my first trip with the Helsinki Commission
in 1987, going with then Chairman Congressman Steny Hoyer to
the historic Vienna Follow-up Meeting and then to German
Democratic Republic. The changes we have seen in the last 30
years--in democracy, prosperity, and security--were truly
inconceivable in 1987. The goal today is to preserve and expand
those achievements and I look forward to working with you
towards that goal.
Prepared Statement of Miroslav Lajcak
Mr. Chair, Members of the Helsinki Commission,
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
It's a great honour for me to address you today. It is a
very special occasion for me to be here as a Chairperson-in-
Office of the OSCE in such a symbolic year, marking the 30th
anniversary of the extraordinary events of 1989. When the
people of Czechoslovakia rose up to peacefully demand their
liberty. For so many years, our nation had seen the dreams
deferred. But never lost faith. Those students, artists,
workers helped usher in the historic wave of freedom that swept
across Central and Eastern Europe. Our Federation, with its
newly found freedom, even took on chairing the OSCE in 1992,
before forming our two independent nations on January 1, 1993.
The democratization road from that point was rocky. I
experienced it myself, as a young diplomat at the time. But I
am very proud that today, Slovakia sits at the table with
nations holding democratic values high, whether at the European
Union, the OSCE or NATO. The road to that table was long. But
we had a back up.
The OSCE and the Helsinki Commission engaged on this road
from the beginning--until today, when we ourselves actively
pass on our experience and expertise with democratic
transition. And we are ready to do more, to contribute more.
That's why we have decided to take on the OSCE Chairmanship
this year.
Because we believe in multilateralism. We believe in
nations coming together, building foundations of trust and
working together to advance security and prosperity. We believe
in the story of Helsinki. This story ties together 57 states
spanning 3 continents, helping to make security, human rights
and rule of law a reality for over a billion people. We in
Slovakia are very proud of this story, and we are very excited
to stand at the helm of this Organization.
Because 44 years later, we believe the potential to unlock
is still incredibly vast. Local know-how. Presence on the
ground. Outstanding expertize. We must rediscover the niche
value of this Organization. Because there are crises on our
doorstep. And what is even more disturbing, we are experiencing
challenges not only outside, but also within. The rising tides
of isolationism and unilateralism are putting at risk our
carefully crafted post-war order. The stakes are high. And they
concern the issues that are at the core of this Commission.
So I am very glad to be here with you, to share an overview
of the agenda we set for our year, and I am looking forward to
hearing your views. Let me now summarize our priorities in
three main points.
I. First, I want to talk about preventing and resolving
conflicts--and mitigating their impact on people.
And here, let me right away turn to the crisis in and
around Ukraine. This Commission has been steadfast in
supporting the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for human
rights and democracy. We wish to see our biggest neighbor safe
and prosperous.
And to come to that, there is no alternative to the Minsk
agreements. That is why we strongly support existing formats,
in particular the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact
Group, as well as the US engagement through the channels of
Kurt Volker.
But we need to be realistic. We cannot simply wait for
progress to happen. There are too many people suffering, as we
speak. So while we focus on supporting solutions agreed at the
negotiating table, we are working on concrete measures aimed at
improving lives of people caught up in the midst of crises.
To put it bluntly--retaining focus on the big picture
should not blind us to perhaps less grand, yet urgent and real
needs of real people. They range from repairing the damaged
Stanytsia Luhanska bridge--the entry-exit point on the line of
contact; to humanitarian demining. In February, I had the
chance to discuss specific proposals of confidence building
measures with Ministers Klimkin and Lavrov separately. And I
did not hear ``no'' a single time. I hope we can work together
to bring these proposed steps forward in the coming months.
These are of course going to be defined by the results of
the presidential elections in Ukraine and the political climate
they will bring. The role of OSCE/ODIHR election observation is
once again proving crucial. It contributes to consolidation of
democracy in the OSCE region. That is why OSCE participating
States must do everything possible, to allow these missions to
work unimpeded. This Commission has observed virtually every
national election in Ukraine since 1990.
Even though the years have passed and crisis hit, your
focus has not dimmed. And I look forward to working with the
United States in our ongoing efforts with Kyiv and Moscow, to
take steps forward. While the crisis in and around Ukraine
occupies much of our attention, we are equally engaged in other
parts of the OSCE area.
The organization works towards conflict resolution and
mediation in Transdniestria, Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh. I
have recently visited them all. From Moldova, where we have
seen some real momentum in the Transnistrian settlement process
we can build on. Then onto Georgia, where our Chairmanship
fully backs existing formats and remains committed to the
Geneva International Discussions and the Incident Prevention
and Response Mechanisms. And again, here as well, we aim to
focus on projects that could bring about small--but concrete--
results and an improvement of the situation for people on the
ground. And in Nagorno-Karabakh--while there has been some
positive developments, we need to see a lot more before talking
about real progress. I will visit Central Asia next week and
trips around the Western Balkans are on the books--to address
the challenges we are facing, right on the spot.
We believe the OSCE is equipped with many tools we need to
overcome these challenges. And we dedicate our Chairmanship to
develop and make better use of them. But this also means
spotting new opportunities, like the inclusion of young people
in peace processes, or gender mainstreaming and greater
participation of women in the security field. Here, I would
take the opportunity to acknowledge your support to the work of
my Special Representative on Gender, Ambassador Melanne
Verveer.
II. So for our second priority, we will focus on what lies
ahead of us to achieve a safer future for all, in particular
young people.
Our societies are different to what they were 44 years ago
when our organization was founded. Cyber-terrorism, use of
technology in organized crime and trafficking in persons--these
are issues people could hardly imagine in the mist of the Cold
War. But today, we find ourselves confronted with them daily,
and they are completely resistant to any unilateral solutions.
So we need to lead the dialogue, open up space for emerging
themes within the OSCE. To this end, our Chairmanship hosts
conferences dealing with issues from terrorism to cyber
security--to call attention to new trends and explore potential
for collaborative impact. Two conferences already took place in
Bratislava.
The first one addressed challenges in promoting tolerance
and non-discrimination, and best practices in combating modern-
day antisemitism. And here, I want to thank you very much for
the US and this Commission's support, especially to you Senator
Cardin, and also to the newly appointed US Special Envoy to
Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Mr. Elan Carr. We were happy
to welcome Mr. Carr in Bratislava just a day after his
appointment, along with my Personal Representative on Combating
Anti-Semitism Rabbi Andrew Baker.
Our second conference, just last week, focused on
preventing and countering terrorism as well as violent
extremism and radicalisation that lead to terrorism. In
preparation, we took due note of the briefing on
counterterrorism organized by Congressman Hudson in December
last year. It was very symbolic that our Conference took place
in the immediate aftermath of the destruction of the last Daesh
stronghold. And, the message from the discussions was very
clear: this is not a time to get comfortable. Terrorism and
violent extremism pose as grave a threat as ever. And, it
continues to evolve.
We need to address the root causes and stay one step ahead.
That is why we, at the OSCE, need to continue updating and
adapting our toolbox--so the future doesn't catch us
unprepared. The role of the Helsinki Commission in bringing new
developments and trends to light is invaluable.
You keep us alert to emerging challenges--from human
trafficking and shrinking space for critical voices from civil
society to protection of national minorities. And here, I would
underline our commitment to all mandated Human Dimension
events.
Slovakia places high importance on advancing the protection
of the safety of journalists, especially after last year's
horrendous murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and
his fiancee Martina Kusnirova--which left Slovakia in an
absolute shock. Support for the protection of journalists has
been expressed through last year's Ministerial Council
decision--one of two in the Human Dimension after several
years.
But to advance these themes, to advance our security and
cooperation, we must band together. And it appears the world
has started to forget the value of multilateralism--this
fundamental problem-solving and war-preventing tool in
international relations, the raison d'etre of the OSCE.
III. So our third priority is to promote effective
multilateralism. Within and outside the OSCE.
Within--because the comparative advantage brought by the
representation so broad--that it brings parties with entirely
contradicting interests to the same room every week--is
immense. And Outside--by promoting OSCE's strategic
partnerships with other international bodies.
Just last month, I was in New York to brief the United
Nations Security Council and engage on strengthening ties
between the OSCE and the UN. I have done the same at the
European Union's Foreign Affairs Council, NATO's North Atlantic
Council and Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers'
Deputies. And promoting partnerships also means connecting with
non-governmental actors. Think tanks, women's groups, youth
networks and other civil society partners. Because while these
organizations differ in mandate, membership or functions--it
does not play to our disadvantage.
To the contrary--there is a wide space for complementarity
of actions--to bring not only enhanced coherence and
effectiveness, but also better use of resources. Because while
our roles vary in many key aspects, the context of our
activities remains the same.
We are here to work for safer and democratic region, where
every individual enjoys security and individual rights. In this
globalized and inter-connected age, working together on
multilateral platforms is not a luxury we can afford to opt out
of. It's inevitable, if we want to safeguard peace and
prosperity to our people. And the OSCE is the perfect platform
to do just that.
Mr Chairman, Excellencies,
I truly welcome this opportunity to engage with you today.
And it was very good to meet many congressional delegates at
the Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Vienna on 21 February.
Because the representatives chosen directly by people are the
best link between the Organization and those it was created to
serve. You bring the local knowledge. You bring the outlook
from outside the meeting halls. You know best what concerns the
people you represent. In that way, you are key in making the
OSCE people-
responsive.
So I am very much looking forward to our discussion, and I
thank you for the attention you have given me today.
[all]
This is an official publication of the
Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.
< < <
This publication is intended to document
developments and trends in participating
States of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
< < <
All Commission publications may be freely
reproduced, in any form, with appropriate
credit. The Commission encourages
the widest possible dissemination
of its publications.
< < <
http://www.csce.gov @HelsinkiComm
The Commission's Web site provides
access to the latest press releases
and reports, as well as hearings and
briefings. Using the Commission's electronic
subscription service, readers are able
to receive press releases, articles,
and other materials by topic or countries
of particular interest.
Please subscribe today.