OSCE Chairman Calls for Solving ‘Frozen Conflicts’

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, called for political leaders on September 28 to show vision and take responsibility to help solve “frozen conflicts” that threaten to erupt anew at any time.

The Belgian Foreign Minister, who was speaking at the OSCE Permanent Council, said that “tension in the South Caucasus remains high – worryingly so.”

“the ‘frozen conflicts’ remind us that peace is never permanent; it is something to which attention must be paid each and every day,” he said.

Belgium – which chairs the OSCE this year – had tried to help solve the unresolved conflicts on OSCE territory, but “it must be admitted, unfortunately, that it has done so without much in the way of results – at least so far,” Minister De Gucht said.

The Chairman-in-Office said the outlines for solving the conflicts were well known and elements for settling them were already on the table. The key was political will, he added.

“I thus call on the political leadership of the countries concerned, in whatever way they are involved and on the basis of their own capacities, to demonstrate vision and take on their responsibilities,” Karel De Gucht stated.

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