IRELAND IS poised to take up the chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2012, if all member states agree to it at the OSCE’s annual ministerial council meeting next week in Athens.
In recent months, the Government has been approached by several OSCE member states in favour of Ireland assuming the 2012 chair.
Albania had been expected to chair the organisation that year, but it has now bowed out. At a Cabinet meeting last Sunday, it was decided that Ireland would be available for the 2012 chair if this proved acceptable to the entire OSCE membership, which includes all EU countries, the US, Canada and Russia.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin will join his counterparts from the OSCE’s 56 participating states at the Athens gathering next week, where it is likely there will be official clarification on the issue. The ministerial council is the OSCE’s main decision-making and governing body.
If Ireland’s candidacy is approved, 2012 will mark the first time the State chairs the organisation.
Ireland was a founding member in 1973 of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, which became the OSCE in 1994.
The chair is held by an OSCE member state for one calendar year on the basis of consensus.
The role of the OSCE’s chairperson-in-office is exercised by the minister for foreign affairs of whatever state holds the chair.
The chairperson provides the political leadership of the organisation and oversees its activities in conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.
The position is also responsible for the external representation of the OSCE and for appointments within the organisation.
The OSCE chair is currently held by Greece. In January, Kazakhstan will take over the position, becoming the first central Asian state to do so.
The Kazakh candidacy has proved controversial, however, with human rights groups deploring its record.
In a recent statement, Human Rights Watch called on those attending next week’s meeting in Athens to send a clear message to the Kazakh government that it needs to bring its human rights record in line with OSCE standards.
“The human rights situation in the country is troubling,” the organisation added.
After Kazakhstan completes its year at the helm, Lithuania will assume the chair in 2011.
During a visit to Dublin in September, OSCE secretary general Marc Perrin de Brichambaut praised Ireland’s role in the organisation, saying it “punched well above its weight” and left a “distinct Irish imprint” in areas such as human rights and democracy.
Ireland maintains a permanent delegation to the OSCE at its headquarters in Vienna.
Ambassador Eoin O’Leary serves as head of mission.