OSCE secretary general regrets closure of office in Yerevan
Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Lamberto Zannier said on Tuesday in Yerevan that he regrets the closure of the OSCE office in Armenia.
Earlier, the Armenian Foreign Ministry blamed the closure on Azerbaijan’s destructive position saying despite all the efforts made, it was impossible to extend the mandate of the OSCE Yerevan Office. It said Azerbaijan abused the principle of consensus in the organization. The OSCE Yerevan office will formally cease its work on August 31, 2017.
Lamberto Zannier said the OSCE works on the principle of consensus and never points a finger at a party that violates it, sating also that he personally regrets that the office in Armenia is being closed, despite the presence of numerous important issues on the agenda. He added that the sides are looking for new formats of cooperation.
In his words, the termination of the OSCE Office in Armenia is only the closure of one chapter and the opening of new ways of mutual cooperation.
He abstained from mentioning the programs which will be continued, noting only that an evaluation of the most priority and important areas of the office’s operation in Armenia will be carried out. In particular, he did not rule out the possibility of cooperation in organizing electoral processes in Armenia, conducting observation missions and a number of other programs being conducted by the OSCE or other international organizations.
Armenia was the only country in the South Caucasus where the OSCE had a functioning office. The decision to open it was taken at a meeting of the Permanent Council of the organization in July 1999. The OSCE office that opened in Baku in 2000 ceased operations on June 4, 2015. The mandate of the OSCE mission, opened in Tbilisi in 1992, expired on December 31, 2008. -0-