Is the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly irrelevant?
The deliberations of the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are welcome in Malta.
Malta has made several valid contributions to the OSCE. The PA does not have a history as long as the OSCE which was formerly known as the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE).
The PA came into being as a result of the 1990 Paris Summit, that is 15 years after the Helsinki Final Act of 1975. As the representatives of the legislative branch of the participating states of the OSCE, they do not wield the same amount of power as the executive branch of the same states. Yet, they have a very useful role when it comes to checks and balances, and the OSCE's PA has assumed significant responsibilities and objectives.
According to the PA's current rules of procedure, which are subject to change, the assembly shall, among other things, assess the implementation of the objectives of the OSCE and develop and promote mechanisms for the prevention and resolution of conflicts.
The OSCE's PA could do nothing to prevent the conflict in Cyprus in 1974, because it had not yet been established, but it appears that it has done very little to resolve this conflict since 1992 when it started functioning.
Turkey has occupied a third of the island of Cyprus - another participating state of the OSCE since 1974, after a short-lived military coup by the Greek Junta. What contribution has the OSCE's PA made to try and resolve this conflict? What pressure has the PA exerted on the delegation of eight representatives from Turkey?
What is the assessment of the PA on Turkey's compliance with its commitment to respect the sovereignty of Cyprus? What is its assessment on the use of force of Turkey against Cyprus until this very day? What is its assessment on the inviolability of the frontier of Cyprus? What is its assessment on Turkey's respect for the territorial integrity of Cyprus? These are only four of the 10 basic principles signed by Turkey in 1975, and completely ignored since then!
Turkey is not complying with other principles contained in the OSCE Decalogue. What is Turkey waiting for to withdraw its troops from another OSCE participating state? When is it going to make up its mind to the peaceful settlement of this dispute?
Is the PA not failing in its responsibilities and objectives by not addressing the non-implementation by Turkey of its OSCE obligations? What is it doing about operative paragraph 13 of its resolution on enhancing its role and increasing its efficiency adopted in Brussels at its 15th annual session in July this year? How many resolutions has it adopted on the conflict in Cyprus?
A year ago in Washington, DC, the PA correctly adopted a resolution concerning the abuse by peacekeeping forces. Does it have anything to say about the presence of Turkish war-keeping forces in Cyprus? The OSCE's PA has a Special Representative on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, an ad hoc working group on Belarus, a parliamentary team on Moldova, and an ad hoc committee on Abkhazia, among other institutions. Is the conflict in Cyprus not relevant to the Parliamentary Assembly's objectives? Is Turkey more influential within OSCE circles than the Russian Federation? Or is this another example of double standards by the international community?
Thanks to the initiative taken by Malta, the OSCE is recognised as a regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, and as a primary instrument for early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation in its area.
It is no excuse that the United Nations is dealing with the Cyprus question. The UN is similarly dealing with several other conflicts between Vancouver and Vladivostok, but that has not prevented the OSCE from addressing such conflicts. The OSCE should, of course, not duplicate the UN's efforts, which have mainly addressed peacemaking and peacekeeping.
The OSCE and the PA could play a very useful role by supplementing the UN's efforts and concentrating on peace-building, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. They could become more relevant to Cyprus.
The PA could appoint a Special Representative or create an ad hoc working group to promote peace and encourage reconciliation between Cyprus and Turkey, and between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities through parliamentary dialogue. The assembly could study what lessons learnt from other OSCE field missions could be applied to try and resolve the conflict in Cyprus. It could similarly study whether an OSCE verification mission similar to the one deployed in Kosovo between October 1998 and March 1999 could supplement UNFICYP's efforts and remove the need perceived by Turkey for its military forces to remain in Cyprus.
The OSCE's PA is in the best position to work with the political parties of Turkey and Cyprus, and those of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. As a confidence-building measure, the House of Representatives of Cyprus could consider designating alternate representatives from the Turkish Cypriot community and ask the standing committee of the OSCE's PA to allow these alternates to follow proceedings as observers.
This weekend the PA will be discussing Immigration, Integration And Cross-cultural Dialogue: The Role Of The OSCE. Is it not ironic that while these issues are being discussed, the OSCE has done very little to help the re-integration of the two Cypriot communities and to promote the cross-cultural dialogue between them in one of the smallest participating states of the OSCE?
Mr Farrugia is a former diplomat who served at Malta's missions to the UN in New York, the OSCE in Vienna, and the United States in Washington, DC.