Andrei Dapkiunas. An archive photo
MINSK, 25 January (BelTA) – Permanent Representative of Belarus to the OSCE Andrei Dapkiunas made a speech at a special session of the OSCE Permanent Council. The session was held to present priorities of Malta’s presidency over the OSCE in 2024, BelTA has learned.
Andrei Dapkiunas said: “We understand the time crunch Malta’s presidency had to deal with as it was preparing to begin its work. We believe it is the reason why no consultations about priorities of the presidency have been held with our delegation so far. In order to help the presiding country to fully take into account opinions of all the delegations about this year’s plans, we suggest paying attention to the joint statement made by heads of the delegations of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan at a ministerial meeting in Skopje to describe the current security situation in the OSCE space.”
Belarus’ delegation suggested paying close attention to the need to expand cooperation without discrimination in transport, trade, healthcare, and efforts to strengthen interconnectedness.
“We believe that it is important for the OSCE system to actively participate in stimulating the creation of an open, fair, non-discriminatory development environment without protectionism, unilateral sanctions, and other kinds of pressure,” the diplomat noted. “The OSCE’s current presidency is a presidency of all the participating states instead of a majority. This is why the productiveness of its work depends on heeding the interests and concerns of all the participating states.”
“We understand that it is very complicated for the presiding country to remain objective and unbiased amid stiff political divisions in the Permanent Council,” Andrei Dapkiunas continued. “This is why we wish our Maltese friends wisdom, professional bravery, and decisiveness in accomplishing the complicated task of converting the Permanent Council from a speaker’s corner into a forum where accord and ways to address the conflicts and contradictions that exist in the OSCE space are actively sought.”
“We also hope that Maltese presidency will endeavor to overcome the bipolar disorder of the Permanent Council that keeps debating one and the same topic as different items on the agenda.”
Submitting talking points for consideration of the OSCE Permanent Council in a restrained manner and with wordings that equally respect all the participating states and enable all the participating states to participate in the discussion could help invigorate the situation in the organization and could become an important factor for a successful and productive presidency by Malta, Andrei Dapkiunas concluded.
