Friday, July 23 2021 09:53

ArmInfo. Under the motto, 'rebuilding trust and confidence through implementation of  politico-military commitments', the Armenian FSC Chairmanship has  sought to implement and protect OSCE commitments to prevent further  erosion of European Security, said Armen Papikyan, the Chair of the  Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC), during his remarks at the last  FSC meeting under the Armenian FSC Chairmanship, the press service of  OSCE reports.  

"We assumed the Chairmanship following a year when  peace and security were challenged in the OSCE area of  responsibility," Papikyan said.  "Over the past three months we made  significant efforts to promote the Forum as a key platform for a  meaningful, genuine and open dialogue by discussing issues of major  concern."  

He provided an overview of the activities organized by Armenia since  it took over the FSC Chairmanship in April. These included nine  security dialogues that addressed a range of topics including  compliance with international humanitarian law, United Nations  Security Council Resolutions 1540 and 1325, the challenges of new  generation warfare, arms control and disarmament, transparency in  military exercises, small arms and light weapons and stockpiles of  conventional ammunition, and preventing and combating terrorism in  all forms.

Outlining challenges faced during the FSC Chairmanship, Papikyan  described a "fragmentation" of the OSCE area and European security  and "a disproportional attention towards different conflict and  crisis situations in the OSCE area". He also noted the erosive effect  of an increase in disagreements among participating States on the  conventional arms control regime and confidence- and  security-building measures. "Deliberations in the FSC during the  Armenian Chairmanship showed that these factors continued to  challenge the security and stability in the OSCE area," he added.

He commended the participating States of the Forum for reaching  consensus on key issues during the Armenian FSC Chairmanship. He also  recognized their engaging discussions during the Tenth Annual  Discussion on the Implementation of the Code of Conduct on  Politico-Military Aspects of Security, which was organized by the  Armenian FSC Chair.

Sharing a vision for rebuilding trust and confidence in the future,  Papikyan called for a "genuine dialogue in the spirit of Helsinki",  for renewing respect for shared OSCE principles and commitments and  for reinvigorating co-operation.

"No matter how important OSCE political military commitments and  obligations may look on paper, they cannot ensure security and  confidence without the political will of the participating States,"  he said. "Current security crises demand not words but actions.  Commitments are a means to an end and not an end in itself. They are  the reflection of the political will of participating States to  address security challenges."

Papikyan closed the session by thanking the Swedish 2021 OSCE  Chairpersonship, the FSC Troika and OSCE staff for their support and  reaffirmed Armenia's readiness to work closely with Austria as the  incoming FSC Chairmanship.