Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak here today. It is an honor to be in Porto for the OSCE Ministerial Council. May I join the many other speakers today in thanking the Government of Portugal and the people of Porto for hosting us all and in congratulating the Government of Portugal on its term as the Chairman-in-Office. We also, Mr. Chairman, look forward to close cooperation with next year’s Chairman-in-Office, the Netherlands.

Secretary Powell very much regrets that he could not join us today. I also want to thank Ambassador Stephan Minikes and the United States representation to the OSCE. As you all know, the Ambassador and his team are great champions of the OSCE.

Mr. Chairman, this meeting takes place between two historic summits -- the NATO Summit in Prague last month and the EU Summit next week in Copenhagen. The OSCE, of course, has its unique place in the architecture of European security. As we look at the year ahead, we ask ourselves: how can the OSCE further adapt itself to the new threats and challenges that we face?

Of course the OSCE already contributes to our security. The human rights commitments that were set out in the Helsinki Final Act played an important role in the events leading to the end of the Cold War and bringing democracy to Central and Eastern Europe during the decade that followed.

Human rights remain at the heart of our own commitment to the OSCE. The events of September 11, 2001 reminded us that the security of our countries is comprised of many elements and that we can energize the OSCE to meet new and broad challenges.

Mr. Chairman, it is our judgment that the OSCE has made an excellent start in taking action against terrorism. The implementation document that we will approve lays out the progress we have made in the last year. The new Charter on Terrorism contains commitments which we hope will focus the work of the OSCE in combating terrorism for years to come.

The Annual Security Review Conference will enable the OSCE to review progress in combating terrorism and the full range of OSCE’s security commitments. It can also generate new OSCE proposals in the security dimension. And we are grateful for the support of so many around this table to help make this proposition a reality.

At the request of the Chairman-in-Office we have also worked with Russia on a paper to identify the broad range of security threats and challenges facing us and to suggest what OSCE might do about them.

These threats, corruption, organized crime, trafficking in arms, drugs and persons, violent extremism, ethnic and religious tensions, and environmental degradation, as well as terrorism are not new. But they require serious and urgent attention. In the coming year we should develop practical initiatives in, for instance, police, law enforcement and border security.

Mr. Chairman, many of these challenges, of course, have an economic dimension. The OSCE has a strong record in implementing programs to promote transparency and good governance. Corruption and the lack of good governance make possible or make worse so many of the challenges that we face.

The decision we are taking on combating trafficking in persons is a good example of what can be done. This declaration reaffirms our prior commitments to counter trafficking and calls for up-dating our action plan for 2003 to develop concrete new initiatives, such as developing an anti-trafficking police curriculum for countries in Western Europe and North America. We look forward to working with the Dutch as the Chairman-in-Office on this, as it is to be a special focus of their chairmanship.

In the OSCE’s work on these new threats, we can see a key role for the field missions. These 20 missions strengthen democratic institutions, respect for human rights and the implementation of the rule of law. These missions and the field operations can and should play a more active role in implementing OSCE activities in the security and economic dimensions. They should involve working with host governments, civil society, and non-governmental organizations.

The work of these field missions is critical. Consider Central Asia, which has been mentioned by a number of Representatives from that area today, which should be a focus of the OSCE’s efforts in 2003. We are concerned about human rights there. OSCE member states should consider the OSCE as a source of counsel and advice. Our goal is to find constructive, forward-looking means across the three OSCE baskets to improve the overall conditions in these countries.

Regarding recent events in Turkmenistan, the United States deplores the violence committed during the reported assassination attempt against President Niyazov on November 25. We call on the Government of Turkmenistan to conduct its investigation in a full, fair and transparent manner in accordance with its own Constitution and international law.

Mr. Chairman, we are particularly encouraged by the work that Senior Police Advisor Richard Monk has done in the region. This includes the establishment next year of a model police station in Kyrgyzstan, which will provide training for all aspects of police work and perhaps can serve as a model for all of Central Asia. The "Threats to Security and Stability" paper can serve as a source for additional projects in the coming year.

As we look back and review what OSCE has done in the Balkans, OSCE monitors in Macedonia have played a crucial role in returning security and stability to the countryside. Elections there and in Kosovo and Bosnia were also clear successes for the OSCE. The newly elected governments can now turn their attention to building up democratic institutions, with the OSCE there to help. Meanwhile, the OSCE will continue to provide training and expertise in developing Albania’s parliament, its judiciary and its officials who focus on border control.

In Yugoslavia, the two-year old OSCE mission finds itself routinely applauded for being a model of effectiveness -- so much so that the Yugoslav government has recently approached it with requests for assistance in police training and elections. A similar process has been underway in Ukraine -- something that we hope will not be delayed by the lack of a new Project coordinator.

The work of the OSCE in Moldova and Georgia also remains extremely important. In Moldova, the OSCE representative is playing a key role in producing a political settlement. In Georgia, the OSCE mission has continued its valuable border monitoring activities, while promoting cooperative steps in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The past year has shown that progress toward a political settlement in Moldova is possible. We need to redouble our efforts to turn this possibility into a reality.

We also welcome the work of the Chechnya Assistance Group. We reiterate that there is no justification for acts of terror. We also call for a political settlement of the conflict. Human rights must be respected by all parties.

CFE also remains a critical issue. We congratulate Russia for meeting the flank commitments that it agreed to in Istanbul. We hope that similar progress will be made on the Istanbul commitments respecting Moldova and Georgia, because there is still work to be done in that area. We hope that specific progress in the new year could enable us to move forward with the Adapted CFE Treaty.

We, of course, are deeply concerned by the situation in Belarus. We are all disappointed that the government in Minsk has halted the work of the Assistance Monitoring Group. Belarus has chosen a policy of self-isolation. But we remain ready to support OSCE efforts to foster the development of democratic institutions in that country.

Although fostering democracy and the rule of law are key goals of the OSCE, we need to continue to combat prejudice in all its forms. We are deeply concerned by the recent increase in anti-Semitic violence in a number of participating states. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Berlin also expressed its concern about these developments. The United States believes that the Parliamentary Assembly makes an important contribution to the work of the OSCE.

We believe that much could be accomplished by cooperation and information sharing in combating anti-Semitism. And so we welcome the Parliamentary Assembly’s condemnation of the increase in anti-Semitic violence. In accordance with the Assembly’s statement in July, we are pleased to welcome this Ministerial’s support for a separately designated human dimension event on anti-Semitism during the coming year.

Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, may I say that since OSCE’s meeting in Bucharest last December, we have together taken steps to intensify our efforts in fighting terrorism and broadening the work of the OSCE which will enhance its effectiveness as an organization and its commitment to strengthening security and cooperation in Europe. We look forward to engaging with all of you in this important work.

Mr. Chairman, I thank you for listening to me today.