U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

On the Situation in Georgia		Humanitarian Aid to Georgia • USAID Georgia Relief • Photo Gallery (America.gov) • Photo Gallery (EUCOM) Info from America.gov
U.S. Statements on the situation in Georgia The United States strongly condemns Russia's unilateral decision to recognize as independent the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. This decision not only violates fundamental OSCE principles, but is also inconsistent with numerous UN Security Council Resolutions that Russia has supported, which reaffirm Georgia’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. White House [more] • Sep. 3: Fact Sheet: U.S. Support for Georgia • Sep. 3: Statement by the President on Georgia Department of State [more] • Sep. 19: Russia/Georgia: Deploying EU and OSCE International Mechanisms [press statement] • Sep. 18: Secretary Rice Addresses U.S.-Russia Relations At The German Marshall Fund [speech] • Sep. 12: Georgia: International Monitors (Taken Question) U.S. Mission to the OSCE [more] • Sep. 18: Statement on EU Observers to Georgia • Sep. 11: On Georgia • Sep. 9: On Russia at the Joint Consultative Group [about JCG] OSCE • Sep. 18: OSCE Chairmanship says no further talks for now on additional monitors for Georgia
HIGHLIGHTS		Press Releases October 1: U.S. Delegation Meets with NGOs, Raises Concerns about Media Freedom at HDIM September 29: U.S. Reaffirms "The Long March of Freedom" at Opening of OSCE Civil Society Gathering September 23: U.S. Delegation to 2008 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw July 22: U.S. Praises Widespread Support for OSCE Election Monitoring at Vienna Seminar CFE Treaty • Fact Sheet: CFE Treaty: Key Facts About the Current Treaty and Agreement on Adaptation • Dec 12, 2007: DOS Statement Regarding Russian "Suspension" of the CFE Treaty
2008 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting The Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) is the OSCE's most important human rights event of the year. The 2008 OSCE HDIM will take place in Warsaw, Poland, from September 29 to October 10, 2008. At this conference representatives of governments and civil society from the 56 participating States review the implementation of the existing commitments and the procedures and mechanisms for monitoring and enhancing compliance with these commitments. In his opening statement the head of the U.S. delegation, Ambassador W. Robert Pearson, called upon states that "Our goal should be that the OSCE region become each year, in every participating State, more free. We must resist efforts to chip away at the freedoms and liberties that were so valiantly won over the history of the Helsinki process." [more]
LATEST OSCE CONFERENCES & EVENTS		OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS STATEMENTS • UN New York, September 26, 2008 • on Nagorno-Karabakh, July 18, 2008 • Bucharest, April 3, 2008 • Vienna, March 20, 2008 • New York, March 14, 2008 • Madrid, November 29, 2007 • Vienna, July 13, 2007 • Belgrade, April 19, 2007 • Geneva, March 14, 2007 • Paris, February 15, 2007 • Baku/Yerevan, January 29, 2007 • on the December 10 Referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh, December 11, 2006 THE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS -- Matthew Bryza, Assistant Deputy Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs -- Bernard Fazier, France -- Yuri Merzlyakov, Russia ________________________ REPORTS and ANALYSES: • Freedom House, September 2008: Progress Review: Kazakhstan'a OSCE Committments on Democracy and Rule of Law in Light of Kazakhstan's Upcoming OSCE Chairmanship • Reporters Without Borders: Press Freedom Round-up 2007 • Reporters Without Borders: 2008 Annual Report • Freedom House: Freedom in the World 2008 • OSCE Monitor by Freedom House
OSCE Public-Private Partnership Conference: “Partnership of State Authorities, Civil Society and the Business Community in Combating Terrorism”, September 15-16 Statement by Ambassador Julie Finley at the Opening Session, September 15 Commemoration of 500th Open Skies Observation Flight On July 14, 2008, the Open Skies Consultative Commission (OSCC), under U.S. Chairmanship, commemorated the 500th Open Skies observation flight which actually took place on August 20. As part of the ceremony military officials of the States Parties to the Treaty released 500 balloons outside the Hofburg in Vienna. [more] First-ever Model OSCE conference took place in Vienna At the first-ever Model OSCE conference organized in Vienna from July 5 to 7, more than 140 young people from 30 OSCE participating States learned about OSCE structures and decision-making processes by playing the roles of national delegations and OSCE officials. Ambassador Finley participated in a panel discussion and met with students from the American International School who represented an Armenian delegation at the conference. [Model OSCE website] General Craddock addresses Annual Security Review Meeting The Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR) U.S. General John Craddock reported to the OSCE's Annual Security Review Conference (ASRC) on the situation in Afghanistan and NATO's role there. His visit comes in the aftermath of the decision taken end of November 2007 at the OSCE's Ministerial Council to involve the OSCE in border security with Afghanistan. [more] [ASRC conference website] U.S. chairs Open Skies Consultative Commission U.S. Chief Arms Control Delegate Hugh Neighbour is serving as Chairman of the Open Skies Consultative Commission (OSCC) from April through September 2008. The OSCC is the implementing body for the Open Skies Treaty which entered into force in January 2002. The Treaty establishes a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the entire territory of its 34 signatories. The U.S. Chair, along with other delegations and the OSCE Secretariat, is organizing the OSCC’s commemoration of the 500th Open Skies observation mission which is expected to be flown this summer. [more]
U.S. invites OSCE to monitor elections scheduled for Nov. 4, 2008 On April 3, Ambassador Julie Finley on behalf of the United States Government extended an invitation to the OSCE participating States to observe the elections on November 4 for the U.S. Presidency, one-third of the members of the U.S. Senate, and all members of the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as many state and local officials elections. Letters of invitation were sent to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and to ODIHR. ODIHR is invited to conduct a Needs Assessment Mission in the United States in preparation for a possible OSCE observation mission. [more] [Press Release] Past Events USOSCE statements archived by event and year/month		Guide to the 2008 Elections
Latest USOSCE Statements • Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, September 29 - October 10 • Permanent Council Meetings in September • Joint Consultative Group on Russia, September 9 • Special Permanent Council Meetings on Georgia-Russia conflict in August	State Department Reports • Human Rights • International Religious Freedom • Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism • Trafficking in Persons Report • Country Reports on Terrorism • Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record	Statements/Briefings by USG Officials • Sep. 19: SecState Remarks on Release of the Department's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom • Sep. 17: Russia’s Aggression Against Georgia: Consequences and Responses - Statement by William J. Burns • Sep. 16: On Democracy and Human Rights in Belarus, David J. Kramer, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Statement Before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe • July 22: Kazakhstan and the 2010 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Chairmanship Richard Boucher, Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Statement Before the Helsinki Commission • February 10: Munich Conference on Security Policy - Remarks by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates DOS Fact Sheets • United States-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership September 25, 2008 • The United States and the Conflict Over Nagorno-Karabakh April 15, 2008 • The United States and the South Ossetian Conflict March 31, 2008
About the Ambassador Julie Finley, Ambassador to the OSCE • Biography • Interview with RFE/RL, Prague, April 2, 2007: OSCE: U.S. Envoy Sees Some Progress in Building Democracy	KEY LINKS • U.S. State Department (DOS) • DOS Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs • DOS Strategic Plan "Transformational Diplomacy" • The White House • U.S. Embassies • U.S. Helsinki Commission • OSCE *** • About the USOSCE • About the OSCE • USOSCE Statements

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