Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Belgium’s Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht informed the Security Council on the OSCE programmed of actions under the presidency of his country. The point specifically concerned efforts aimed at resolution of the so-called “frozen conflicts” in the region. He expressed hope for one of these – that in Kosovo – to be solved before the turn of the year. He also reported there is hope to settle the situation in Nagorno Karabakh. “There are still many so-called “frozen conflicts” in the region – in South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh, Moldova-Transnistria and first of all in Kosovo. We hope for the conflict in Kosovo to be resolved this year,” Karel de Gucht stated in a conversation with journalists after a briefing in the UN Security Council, reported UN News Center.
The Belgian Minister emphasized that a “hope window” for settlement of the situation around Nagorno Karabakh has appeared. He reported that Armenian and Azeri presidents had agreed to meet this February and discussed the ways to solve the conflict. “Before that I plan to meet each of them. I believe the fact that they had agreed on a meeting is important in itself,” de Gucht added. He remarked that after the collapse of the Soviet Union the OSCE is the only organization providing for security and stability in the European region in general. He pledged to work more closely with the UN in the field.
