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"Weakening" OSCE fails to approve declaration in Madrid (3rd Lead)
Nov 30, 2007, 17:06 GMT
Madrid - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) failed to approve a joint political declaration Friday at an annual meeting marked by a deepening rift between the United States and Russia.
The failure to approve joint declarations since 2002 has weakened the OSCE politically, 'deprived' it of 'orientation,' 'diminished the perception of our achievements' and made it less efficient, the Spanish presidency of the human rights and security watchdog said in its own final document.
The OSCE postponed a decision on the future of its Kosovo mission. The United States and its Western allies failed to persuade Russia to backtrack on its decision to abandon a key arms control treaty.
The OSCE did however reach agreements on launching a new mission to ensure frontier security in Afghanistan, on its future chairmanship and on stepping up the fight against terrorism.
More than 40 ministers, as well as lower-level representatives, from 56 OSCE countries attended the two-day meeting in the Spanish capital.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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