Germany, as this year’s Chair of the OSCE, aims to steer the Organization as a platform for real and honest dialogue, said Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in his first address as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to the Permanent Council in Vienna on January 14, 2016. Germany assumes the Chairmanship at a turbulent time with recent deadly terrorist attacks in the region, the ongoing conflict in and around Ukraine as well as crises in the Mediterranean and Middle East areas. “What will help us move forward are not just acknowledgements of the value of dialogue, but an actual dialogue, sincere and engaged, that does not hesitate to identify breaches of OSCE principles,” he said, specifically referring to Crimea and the east of Ukraine.

He called for an increased readiness to contribute constructively to substantial decisions made by the OSCE and to strengthen discussions on the level of political leaders within the OSCE. The German Chairmanship would actively support the OSCE’s current negotiating formats and mechanisms related to Nagorno-Karabakh, Transdniestria and the consequences of the 2008 conflict in Georgia. Steinmeier also emphasized the continued need for strong OSCE field missions and to further strengthen OSCE capacities in all phases of the conflict cycle. Highlighting confidence- and security-building measures and arms control, Steinmeier said “we should courageously tackle the modernization of the Vienna Document.”

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For watching Minister Steinmeier’s address to the Permanent Council click here.

Here you can downland an English version of Minister Steinmeier's speech: Speech by the CiO Steinmeier (PDF, 69 KB).