Ukraine to Tackle Long-Standing Issues in Europe as 2013 OSCE Chair

KYIV, Ukraine, December 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Ukraine sees its upcoming chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe as a powerful tool for solving long-lasting and frozen conflicts in the region. This was stated by the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych at the meeting with heads of diplomatic missions of foreign countries and international organizations accredited in Ukraine. The country will spearhead the OSCE starting January 1, 2013.

"The OSCE chairmanship presents an opportunity for Ukraine to make its, in many respects, unique contribution to strengthening security," commented Ukrainian president. The country will also work on deepening the mutual trust between the players of the region. Ukraine will take up the leadership after Ireland, which presented the strategic roadmap - known as the Helsinki +40 - ahead of its 40th anniversary in 2015. This proposal of Irish diplomats envisages a working group comprising the three future chairs (Ukraine, Switzerland, and Serbia), which would examine a number of areas where the OSCE needs to change the way it operates, reads the Irish Times.

OSCE ministerial conference in Dublin (70 delegations, 55 foreign ministers, 30 international NGOs) of December 7, 2012, unanimously supported the prospect of Ukraine taking over the organization in the upcoming year, reported Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostiantyn Hryshchenko.  

Ukraine's top priorities for its 2013 OSCE Chairmanship include early conflict prevention, solving longtime conflicts, post conflict restoration, overall regional safety and stability, strengthening of the democratic institutions, and reviving the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. Ukraine aims to address the new challenges the OSCE member states face, including the issue of energy safety. According to Kyiv the eroding Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe - the document puts limits on the amount of weaponry allowed in Europe - is the backbone of stability in the region.

Ukraine's agenda features facilitating the conflict resolution in Transnistria, a Moldovan breakaway territory on the south-western border of Ukraine, and South Caucasus: the region is suffering from three frozen conflicts - in Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia.

Notably, Ukraine chaired the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in May - November 2011.