Presentations by OSCE Committee chairs: UK response, December 2023
Ambassador Neil Holland thanks the three OSCE Committee chairs for their focus on Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine this year.
Thank you to the Chairs of the three Committees for presenting to the Permanent Council today. Irina, Florian, Anne-Marie and of course Stelian, we have been grateful to you and to our Chair-in-Office for your strong leadership over the past year. We are also grateful to your dedicated teams. Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine has struck at the very core of the obligations we have all freely signed up to as members of this organisation. Under your stewardship, and guided by our CiO, OSCE Committees have been determined to uphold collectively these principles because they form the foundation of the security of every State represented in this room.
Irina, we have seen in the Security Committee that the repercussions of conflict are wide-ranging and relevant to our work on transnational threats. We supported your approach to a flexible workplan to respond to the live context, and appreciated your inclusion of topics we have not covered before. Our meetings this year have highlighted how organised crime actors systematically exploit conflict-affected areas for their own ends. We heard how Ukrainian police turned from non-combatants to standing together with the armed forces defending Mariupol, clearing Bucha and liberating Kherson. We heard how Ukraine and other countries work to counter Russian cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns. We saw how the OSCE Heritage Crime Task Force is working to tackle the risk of Ukraine’s cultural heritage being looted and trafficked. And our meeting on border management showed not just the challenges dealt with by the State Border Guard of Ukraine and neighbouring countries, but also how the situation in Afghanistan is leading to spill-over threats into Central Asia – and further into Europe.
Florian, thank you for your work this year. We welcome your efforts to keep Russia’s war and the incredible damage it is wreaking on the Ukrainian economy and environment on the agenda. It was right that we discussed pertinent issues such as food security and energy infrastructure – two issues terribly affected by Russia’s war. And we supported your decision to hold a special session on the Kakhovka dam – a truly catastrophic event, caused by Russia’s war, the effects of which will be felt for generations to come.
Anne-Marie, thank you for your adept and professional leadership of the Human Dimension Committee. As Russia’s full-scale invasion illustrated so starkly, when fundamental freedoms are violated, our collective security is put in jeopardy. And as Moscow Mechanism reports clearly show, internal repression enables external aggression. We have particularly appreciated the Committee’s focus on the consequences of Russia’s invasion as well as your consistent inclusion of strong voices from civil society across the OSCE. At a time when some participating States seek to challenge the OSCE’s principles and commitments on human rights and democracy, we thank you for your resolute stance in defence of the OSCE’s vital work to safeguard fundamental freedoms.
My Foreign Secretary said at the Ministerial Council, “the UK is clear in our support for the OSCE”. Our shared OSCE principles and commitments sit at the heart of Euro-Atlantic security, and we will continue to work in the three Committees, with our Maltese CiO, and with the Secretariat, institutions, and field missions – to uphold them. Not just for Ukraine, but for all of us in this room.