Response to the Report of the Three Committee Chairs
As delivered by Political Counselor Elisabeth Rosenstock-Siller
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
April 7, 2022
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We strongly support the decision of each chair to adjust their annual workplans for each committee and applaud Ambassadors Kinnear, Raunig, and Karlsen for their leadership.
Mr. Chair,
We agree that there can be no return to “business as usual” as long as Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is raging and it remains patently clear that Russia has no intention whatsoever of respecting any OSCE principles or commitments. We have plenty of work to do — to document human rights abuses, violations of international humanitarian law, and war crimes; to provide Ukraine with assistance to resist Russia’s monstrous aggression; and to help mitigate the effects of this war on the people of Ukraine and on other participating states. We also recognize there are many other important issues in the region that will need to be addressed, and valuable workstreams underway that we must continue to support. But in this new world of fundamental rupture with existing norms, we should focus on the most pressing needs first. I have the utmost confidence in our three phenomenal Committee Chairs, and my Mission will continue working closely with their teams to help meet this moment.
Chairs, the United States deeply appreciates your efforts to adapt your work to take full account of the changed circumstances in which we find ourselves today. We value your leadership and dedication. The revisions to your respective workplans that you have outlined for us today have our full support.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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