Betterment and balance in the OSCE

On the eve of a vitally important meeting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) held in Sofia on December 6 and 7, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation made concrete proposals to render this influential international body still better, more balanced and, therefore, more effective in the present world situation.

Basically, what he is asking for is that the OSCE should focus its attention more on its primary aims and not disperse its forces on issues that are more the concerns of other institutions. "The OSCE was created as a forum for political dialogue and collective decision-making. Its advantages include its broad membership and comprehensive approach to security based on a balance between military and political, economic and humanitarian dimensions...

"Given that various European bodies duplicate each other's work, the very survival of the OSCE will depend on its ability to capitalise on its comparative advantages. It must prove it is capable of adding value in the field of security and co-operation between states."

A look back at the history of this organisation shows that successive reforms have helped to give it its present powerful place in international affairs. Further reforms will make it even stronger. Throughout the years, the OSCE has not shied away from change. It even changed its name. Until 1990 it was called the CSCE, Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.

It actually harks back to what is known as "the Helsinki Final Act" in 1975. It was in Helsinki that on Malta's insistence there was the recognition of what former President Guido de Marco likes to call "the theorem that there can be no security in Europe without security in the Mediterranean and, conversely, there can be no security in the Mediterranean unless there is security in Europe".

Malta's interest has never wavered in the developments concerning the Helsinki Final Act up to the present-day OSCE. In his excellent book, The Genesis of Malta's Foreign Policy (which I reviewed in this paper last Sunday), Victor Gauci who served as Malta's ambassador to the CSCE, as it then was, devotes an entire chapter to Malta's active participation in this international body.

From Malta's point of view, the most important event during this period was hosting the 1979 CSCE meeting in Malta, specifically at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. "In the opening ceremony on February 13, 1979, the President of Malta observed that the Conference Centre had been officially opened only two days previously.

"It was an occasion for national pride that a derelict building had been transformed into a new edifice. He said, 'It is an ancient hall, over 400 years old, steeped in history, one of the longest - if not the longest - in Europe. At a time when the concept of the equality of man was still struggling to find expression, this hall was used for healing, without distinction of race, colour or creed."

"He concluded his speech with these words: 'It was responsible for healing the sick of the Mediterranean in the past. I express the hope on your behalf that it will heal the sick Mediterranean in the future, as a result of your collective efforts at this Meeting, the first in this Centre, the first of its kind in the Mediterranean'...

"For Malta the theme of the Conference was simple and logical. What Malta had succeeded in doing on its own inside the island, the Mediterranean countries, acting together and assisted by the CSCE countries, could also achieve for their region. Malta had transformed itself from 'a tool of war to an instrument of peace'.

"Now the entire Mediterranean region could be transformed into a 'lake of peace', replacing tension and division by co-operation, starting with cultural, economic and scientific ventures. The countries of the Mediterranean would be protagonists in this endeavour" (op. cit., pp. 172-173).

The Nationalist Opposition of those days supported the Labour government wholeheartedly in its approach to the 1979 CSCE meeting in Malta.

In his remarkable address delivered on the occasion of the 17th Euro-Med Information and Training Seminar for diplomats organised by the Mediterranean Academy of Dip-lomatic Studies on December 3, Malta's Foreign Minister, Dr Michael Frendo, referred to the OSCE meeting in Sofia as well as previous ones. He listed Malta's priorities to be raised in such venues and stressed the need to adopt partnership-building measures.

The apparently intractable Israeli-Palestinian issue can and should be settled satisfactorily. There is no such thing as an inevitable hereditary enmity: longstanding central European hostility has been replaced by harmony. France and Germany, for instance, have learnt to appreciate one another so much, that their diplomats at times represent both countries at once in some particular international forum.

Illegal immigration, that is putting such an intolerable strain on Malta, can be solved only by co-operation between all Mediterranean states. Actually, an eminent scholar has suggested that historically, politically, commercially and culturally, the real dividing line from Europe starts with the Sahara Desert, not the southern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.

The idea of a free trade area embracing all Mediterranean states, including Libya, should be actively pursued. An alliance of all civilisations must be forged. The moderates of the world should unite. Prejudice and ignorance are the foes we should all face squarely together, for these are the evils that are at the roots of war and terrorism.

I wish to conclude as I began with the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's suggestions for strengthening the OSCE. "Institutional reform is particularly important. The OSCE's rules of procedure must be streamlined to eliminate gaps and grey areas and make it a full legal entity. Decision-making should be carried out by consensus, as a token of the sovereign equality of all members of the organisation and of its democratic character.

"The initial role of the OSCE in military, political and economic fields should be restored. Field missions should be redirected to specific projects at the request of host states. OSCE budgeting and scales of contributions by countries should be revised and based on the principle of capacity to pay and United Nations methodology. Rules on extra-budgetary spending must be improved.

"Next year, we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the signature of the Helsinki Final Act... It is a perfect time to consider the OSCE's future... It is important to find solutions that will enhance its role in preventing the emergence of new dividing lines in Europe and will transform it into an effective instrument serving the interests of all members."