OSCE: use of force not an option in settling disputes

PanARMENIAN.Net - Foreign ministers from the 56 OSCE participating states charted the way ahead for the OSCE-anchored debate on the future of European security known as the Corfu Process in a decision and a Ministerial Declaration adopted today at the Ministerial Council in Athens.



The ministers said they remained seriously concerned that the principles of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and subsequent OSCE commitments are not fully respected and implemented.



"Our highest priority remains to re-establish our trust and confidence, as well as to recapture the sense of common purpose that brought together our predecessors in Helsinki almost 35 years ago," the statement said.



In the declaration, the ministers said they were concerned "that the use of force has not ceased to be considered as an option in settling disputes; that the danger of conflicts between states has not been eliminated, and armed conflicts have occurred even in the last decades".



They also adopted a statement urging the Minsk Group Co-Chair countries to sustain the positive dynamic of negotiations of the negotiations and aiming to finalize the Basic Principles on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.



"We are convinced there is today a real opportunity to build a future of peace, stability and prosperity for the entire region," the statement said.