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In times when European and global security architecture are at a critical juncture, the OSCE remains a unique instrumental platform enabling the participating States to find a common response to evolving challenges.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said while addressing the 21st OSCE Ministerial Council that kicked off in Basel on December 4, APA’s correspondent reports from Switzerland.
Mammadyarov said for non-bloc countries like Azerbaijan, OSCE is the only multilateral engagement format, where we can promote and defend our interests from leverages of unilateral domination.
“We feel a considerable discomfort with an increased competition of opposing political-military blocks since this deepens dividing lines and further diminishes the role of OSCE in European security architecture. The OSCE must be used to build a network of trustful and secure relations both between enlarging political/military blocks and non-block OSCE participating States,” the minister noted.
The FM said the current OSCE agenda is over dominated by an intentional increasing focus on the issues of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“With full support to the issues of democracy building, regretfully, sometimes we see a lack of comprehensive and integral approach, double standards, breaches of mandates by some OSCE institutions and attempts to jeopardize stability and development of OSCE participating States under the pretext of human rights concerns. We urge relevant OSCE institutions to undertake serious efforts to restore the trust and to implement their respective mandates without double standards, geographical and other preferences,” he added.
Apa.az
