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OSCE Presidency To Continue On Track, Finnish Foreign Minister Says

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  • OSCE Presidency To Continue On Track, Finnish Foreign Minister Says

    OSCE PRESIDENCY TO CONTINUE ON TRACK, FINNISH FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS

    Earthtimes
    April 10 2008
    UK

    Vienna - Finland's new foreign minister said Thursday finding solutions
    to the frozen conflicts in the region of the former Soviet Union
    remained core to his country's chairmanship of the Organization for
    Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE). "I came here to convey
    a message of continuity," Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said,
    stressing the importance Finland placed on its OSCE chairmanship by
    making the Vienna-based organization destination of his first trip
    since taking office on April 4.

    "My aim is to re-energize efforts towards peaceful settlement of
    these conflicts. I sincerely hope that the efforts ... are met with
    constructive engagement by all parties," Stubb added.

    He expressed concern over recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh in
    Azerbaijan and the Georgian breakaway region South Ossetia and appealed
    to all parties to refrain from violence.

    "The OSCE needs to focus on the issues where it can make a real
    difference," Stubb told delegates from the OSCE's 57 member states,
    urging them to cooperate on the question of Kosovo, despite "diverging
    views" by member states, which include Russia, Serbia, as well as
    the United States and all members of the European Union.

    Finland holds the rotating one-year chairmanship of the OSCE, the
    world's largest regional security body, in 2008.

    Stubb's predecessor Ilkka Kanerva was forced to resign over a scandal
    following him sending suggestive text messages to a stripper.

    The minister was expected to discuss bilateral issues in a meeting
    with his Austrian counterpart Ursula Plassnik later on Thursday.
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