Brussels, 01/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) remains one of the pillars of EU security, with the 27 EU member states now making up half of all OSCE members and over 2/3 of its budget, said European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, speaking on Wednesday 1 December before the OSCE Summit in Astana (Kazakhstan). The EU's commitment to the founding values and principles of this organisation remains as solid as ever, he said. In future, the OSCE's number one priority must be to deal with regional conflicts, whether these have lasted some time (“frozen conflicts”) or are recent, he went on to say. “The OSCE's capabilities in early warning, conflict prevention and resolution, as well as in crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation, need to be strengthened”, he pointed out. “Recent experiences in some Central Asian countries, like Kyrgyzstan, have shown the need for the OSCE to adapt further”, he added. Rather than act simply as an early warning instrument, the OSCE “should move from early warning to early action with improved decision-making”, Van Rompuy asserted. The EU is ready to play its role and to contribute to settling frozen conflicts like those in Transnistria, Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh, he added. (H.B./transl.jl)