Rift between US and Russia deepens at OSCE meeting (2nd Lead)

Nov 30, 2007, 13:51 GMT

Madrid - A rift between the United States and Russia deepened Friday at an annual meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with Washington accusing Moscow of 'attacking' the organization's election monitoring rights.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns also described Russia's decision to scrap a 1990 key arms control treaty as a 'major mistake.'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on the other hand, accused the US and its allies of using the OSCE to promote their political interests, describing the decades-old human rights and security body as being in a 'serious crisis.'

More than 40 ministers from 56 OSCE countries attended the two-day meeting, which was concluding on Friday in the Spanish capital.

Burns stressed the continuing importance of the OSCE, saying it needed to 'stand for European and American values' supported by the vast majority of member countries such as democracy, human rights, election monitoring and arms control.

Burns accused Russia, Uzbekistan and Belarus of 'attacking' the OSCE election monitoring body ODIHR. The organ is boycotting Sunday's parliamentary elections in Russia, citing bureaucratic obstacles which the West believes to have aimed at curtailing the rights of observers.

Russia is seeking to reform the ODIHR, accusing the West of using democracy issues such as election monitoring to push for its interests in former Soviet states.

Burns also slammed Russia for suspending participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, which President Vladimir Putin signed Friday despite Western attempts to persuade Russia to change its mind in Madrid.

'This is a wrong decision,' Burns said.

'Countries should not unilaterally walk out' of arms treaties, he added, describing Russia as being 'out of step with the majority' of the OSCE countries on election monitoring and arms control.

Burns said he 'regretted' that the OSCE had not been able to take a formal decision on the future of its mission in Kosovo.

The Madrid meeting was, however, expected to agree on two major issues, the future chairmanship of the OSCE and a new mission to ensure border security in Afghanistan.

Burns confirmed that Washington had given its backing to a Kazakh bid to chair the OSCE in 2010 after Kazakhstan 'pledged to protect' the ODIHR.

The US and several other countries had earlier had reserves about the Russian-backed Kazakh bid because of doubts about Astana's democratic credentials.

In a compromise solution, Kazakhstan will take over chairmanship only after Greece in 2010. The next country to chair the OSCE is Finland, which will succeed Spain on January 1.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht expressed 'concern' over the state of the OSCE, saying that a continuing lack of agreement 'has led to an erosion of our achievements.'