The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has also taken a strong stand against the Belarusian dictator. As the Final Report of its 2004 mission to observe the Belarusian parliamentary elections clearly stated, the vote fell significantly short of OSCE commitments.

What opportunities do you see for the OSCE and its expertise outside of the OSCE region?

OSCE Counter Terrorism Action

Striving to avoid duplication of efforts and foster complementarity, the OSCE regularly inventories all OSCE and non OSCE counter terrorism, border security and law enforcement programmes in the region.

The political commitments framework is comprised by decisions taken by OSCE bodies, such as the Plan of Action (Bucharest 2001) and the Charter on Preventing and Combating Terrorism (Porto 2002), as well as various specific decisions adopted by Ministerial Meetings in Maastricht (2003) and Sofia (2004) and by the OSCE Permanent Council and Forum for Security Co operation.

The OSCE Minsk Group Fact Finding Mission has officially presented its report to the OSCE Permanent Council.

Jaroslaw Pietrusiewicz (OSCE Secretariat, Poland)

You mentioned the success of the OSCE election teams sent to Afghanistan and to the Palestinian Authority and said that the OSCE could develop its relations beyond the OSCE region even further.

Second, given that the risk of conflict is greatest in Ukraine s Russophone east, an OSCE mission should be deployed there to ensure stability, security, and respect for minorities, and to condemn, if necessary, violations of specified commitments.

For example, ECE plays a leading role in the review of implementation of OSCE commitments in the economic and environmental dimension, as set forth in the memorandum of understanding signed between the two organizations in December 2004.

the commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension of the OSCE are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State concerned .

The OSCE is doing its part.

Summary of OSCE counter terrorism activities

OSCE background paper 2004 1, sect.

ODIHR is an OSCE Institution in Warsaw, while ATU, CPC, OCEEA and SPMU are parts of the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna.

3.2 (hereinafter OSCE background paper 2004 1).

See OSCE, background paper 2004 1, sect.

See OSCE background paper 2004 1, sect.

OSCE background paper 2004 1, p. 25.

OSCE background paper 2004 1, p. 35.

OSCE background paper 2004 1, p. 47.

I believe that, by implementing the Strategy, the OSCE can take on some of the burden of the United Nations in the OSCE area.

Earlier this year the OSCE sent a needs assessment team to the Palestinian territories to see what help the OSCE could offer on elections.

Mongolia is now an OSCE Partner for Cooperation.

Summary of OSCE counter terrorism technical assistance programmes

Report of the OSCE Fact Finding Mission (FFM)

Report of the OSCE Fact Finding Mission (FFM)

See OSCE background paper 2004 1, p. 44.

OSCE decision No. 3 04, 7 December 2004.

It is less a case of what the United Nations can do for the OSCE than of what the OSCE can do for the United Nations.

The Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of OSCE has produced an annual background paper on the use of the death penalty in OSCE member States.

Urges Armenia and all Member States of the Minsk Group to engage constructively in the ongoing OSCE peace process on the basis of the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and relevant OSCE decisions and documents, including those of the First Additional Meeting of the OSCE Council of 24 March 1992, OSCE Summit of 5 6 December 1994, OSCE Summits of 2 3 December 1996 and refrain from any action that will make it more difficult to reach a peaceful solution.

The OSCE is well positioned and well equipped to participate.

The OSCE runs police development units in the western Balkans.

OSCE developed a two prong programme on travel document security.

The OSCE has become active in counter terrorism issues since 2001.

That is a matter on which the OSCE is very clear and progressive, at least when it comes to human rights. In 1991, at a meeting in Moscow, OSCE States agreed that

OSCE wide workshops are planned for the first two issues in 2005.

OSCE provides the following counter terrorism related assistance to its participating States

Commitments

The international community OHR, UNHCR, OSCE, UMNBIBH, CRPS provides support to these ministries.

One might ask whether it is true that the OSCE is in crisis.

Organizations must remain dynamic to remain relevant, and the OSCE is no exception.

Commitments could range from substantial liberalization to commitments binding existing regimes.

A periodically updated inventory of OSCE and non OSCE counter terrorism capacity building programmes serves project planners as a valuable tool of avoiding duplication and finding weaker spots in need of anti terrorism attention and assistance.