Vienna, 24/01/2000 (Agence Europe) - In an article published in "Le Figaro" on 22 January on the occasion of the beginning of the Presidency-in-Office of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), outgoing Austrian Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel stressed that most of the Organisation's collaborators were working "in missions on the ground, currently 19" (in South Eastern Europe, in the countries of the former USSR and in the Baltic States). In particular, noting that the OSCE was concentrating 86% of its budget on these measures, Mr. Schuessel said that Austria would, like the Norwegian Presidency, to continue to place emphasis on the "need for a dialogue between warring factions and for a political solution in Chechnya".
The European Union and the OSCE "must mutually support each other in pursuing common goals", said Mr. Schuessel, announcing that Austria "will strive to establish close collaboration with the Presidency of the European Union", and that "our joint priority" will be a common approach, especially regarding Chechnya and the Balkans. Human rights are an OSCE priority, Mr. Schuessel also stressed, stating that the organisation would hold seminars on issues as serious as children's participation in wars, trafficking in human beings, the integration of refugees and displaced persons, torture and the death penalty. In addition, in order to render the OSCE more effective and rapid in crisis management, the Austrian Presidency will implement the new "React" system approved at the Istanbul Summit in November, system that comprises the creation of "permanent early-warning teams" at national level composed of "the best civilian experts from the OSCE States" in matters of police, democratisation and election monitoring.