AS SECRETARY-GENERAL of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Marc Perrin de Brichambaut’s remit extends from Vancouver to Vladivostok, with some 56 participating states in between.
Of the organisation’s immediate priorities, the challenges following last year’s conflict in Georgia remain to the fore.
In June, the OSCE wound up its mission in the country after member states failed to reach consensus on extending its mandate.
“Clearly, the situation in Georgia is still tense, open, unresolved and destabilised,” Mr de Brichambaut said during a visit to Dublin this week. “It is not an abstract issue – every week we have a sharp exchange .”
The OSCE’s relationship with Russia often proves tempestuous. A recent resolution by the OSCE parliamentary assembly equating Nazism and Stalinism caused outrage in Moscow.
Nevertheless, some OSCE member states have begun to grumble that Russia’s influence within the organisation has become disproportionately large.
Mr de Brichambaut says such criticism is unwarranted. “You have to be realistic. is the one pan-European security organisation where Russia is on an equal footing with everybody else, where it has a lot of friends, where it has a long background . . . It is not abnormal that Russia should play a big role in an organisation that is meant to create a continuous flow of relations between North America, Europe and Eurasia.
“I don’t think there is an imbalance in favour of Russian views or Russian interests at all. If you follow closely what the Russians say, their current narrative is to say that the OSCE does not pay enough attention to their views and interests.”
The OSCE has 19 missions or field operations across southeastern and eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. At a gathering at Dublin’s Institute of International and European Affairs this week, Mr de Brichambaut praised Ireland’s role in the OSCE, saying it “punched well above its weight”, leaving a “distinct Irish imprint” in areas such as human rights and democracy.
He also touched on the implications of the Lisbon Treaty referendum, arguing that having a “vibrant, active” EU is a key element of the OSCE.
“Anything that is good for multilateral co-operation benefits all multilateral organisations. would have a positive impact on the OSCE as well as the UN for instance because it would show there is a democratic support for international co-operation.”
On the Balkans, Mr de Brichambaut cautioned “there are still some orange lights blinking in more than one place”.
He said holding out the prospect of future EU membership as a “major reward” is not a “magic wand”.
“There is still a lot to be done. There is progress . . . but the tensions are not far under the surface.” The tensions that remain between Serbia and Kosovo are cause for concern, he said, and “major efforts continue to be required”.
Kazakhstan will next year take over the annual rotating chairmanship of the OSCE. Human rights groups have questioned the country’s suitability for the post, given its human rights record.
Mr de Brichambaut says Kazakhstan is “working very hard” to prepare itself for the chairmanship. “They will bring a new dimension and a new practice in the life of the organisation which will encourage their partners to intensify the dialogue with them, because if they have any reluctance to accept certain Kazakh points of view or ways of doing things, well, the best thing is to discuss it with them. There is no other way of doing things.”
The Kazakh chairmanship will, he says, tilt the OSCE’s centre of gravity eastwards. “In the life of the OSCE, there is only one rule – uncertainty. Events happen.. and the OSCE has to respond one way or another . . .”