Response to the Report by OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger
As delivered by Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Harry R. Kamian
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
January 25, 2018
Thank you, Secretary General.
Let me echo the comments made by my French colleague and Dutch colleague with regards the to the information you shared regarding your activities.
On the first point, I want to commend you for reaching out and making yourself available to meet with civil society organizations, whether they be the [Civic Solidarity] Platform or any others. I think it sends a very powerful message to our partners in the OSCE that senior level officials, like yourself, together with Permanent Representatives from participating States regularly make ourselves available to engage civil society on the full range of issues of concern to them, as well as to this organization, and we look forward to continued briefs that you provide throughout the year as you continue to engage with this and other organizations. So thank you very much for that.
With regards to the course that is underway on combating human trafficking, let me congratulate Italy again for taking on this leadership role early on in their Chairmanship. As one of the many participating States here that supported the OSCE’s efforts to combat human trafficking – I share [Ambassador] Desirée’s [Kopmels] point – we look forward to the results of the training course, even if they are initial. I think Washington will be quite interested to hear how that course went, and to see if there are any lessons learned for future courses throughout the OSCE region down the road.
And finally, with regards to the UAVs, let me congratulate you and the SMM leadership for continuing to look for and identify ways in which we as participating States can further enhance the capabilities of our monitors to undertake the important mandate that we’ve charged them to do. Recognizing the issues of cost, and recognizing the challenges my French colleague mentioned – the importance of having sound operation plans and safety, it is incumbent upon us as participating States to continue to look for each and every way we can strengthen the capability of our monitors on the ground to carry out that mandate that we’ve entrusted them to do. So, like my Dutch colleague and my French colleague, I look forward to receiving further information on this.
Thank you again.
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