DUSHANBE, December 5, 2014, Asia-Plus — In a statement delivered at the 21st OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojddin Aslov noted on December 4 that the OSCE participating States realize the necessity of development of the OSCE.
“We consider that the so-called “roadmap 2015” offered by the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship will include development of the main strategic approaches, long-term perspectives and continuation of work towards a security community. We hope that this will help create the future vision of a role and activities of the OSCE… We hope that our Serbian colleagues will take efforts to promote the implementation of the “roadmap,” Aslov noted.
In his statement, Tajik foreign minister also touched upon the Afghan problems and pointed to the necessity of intensification of international community’s efforts on providing financial and technical assistance to Afghanistan to support its economic reconstruction. “In this connection, Tajikistan attaches important significance to implementation of energy and transportation projects promoting Afghanistan’s participation in expansion of regional economic ties,” Aslov said.
He also pointed to the necessity of intensifying assistance in strengthening borders neighboring countries that are in the first line of defense in stemming Afghan drugs and forming modern efficient border service in Afghanistan.
The foreign ministers also discussed the Ukraine crisis and common challenges within and beyond the OSCE area. The Council set the course for the future work of the organization with Serbia taking the chair from January 1, 2015.
The Ministerial Council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE. The meeting, held annually, provides foreign ministers and more than 70 delegations of OSCE participating States, partner countries and several international organizations an opportunity to review and assess the Organization”s activities during the past year and offer national viewpoints on security matters.
