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Unresolved conflicts should be settled within existing formats

Politics

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis met with Russian high-level politicians and officials in Moscow today to outline the priorities of Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship and to discuss the Organization's activities in 2011.


"The constructive engagement of the Russian Federation, the EU, the United States and other OSCE participating States, in all three dimensions - the politico-military, the economic and environmental, as well as the human - is essential to the effective work of the Organization," Ažubalis said at the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.


Ažubalis noted the positive contribution of Russia to the 2010 OSCE Summit in Astana and said that Lithuania, as the 2011 OSCE Chairmanship, will build on proposals made during summit preparations.


"We will focus on a few concrete priorities, such as advancing settlement of unresolved conflicts within existing formats, promoting media freedom, energy security dialogue and promoting regional co-operation," Ažubalis said.


Ažubalis said that he counts on support by the Russian Federation in fulfilling the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship‘s work programme, including in the human dimension: "An open and constructive dialogue on issues important to all 56 OSCE participating States is the right way to achieve progress and keep up with the political commitments that we all agreed to, most recently at the Astana Summit."


He reiterated his condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the 24 January terrorist attack in Moscow. He added that the attack sadly demonstrated that all stakeholders must unite in efforts to combat terrorism and transnational threats. "We can fight such threats effectively only through co-ordinated efforts of all national, regional and
international actors," he stressed.

He said that the OSCE values Russia's contribution to addressing transnational threats related to terrorism, cyber security and drug trafficking, to intensifying OSCE engagement with Afghanistan, and to working in all other spheres of the OSCE's activities.