Minister Vartan Oskanian participated in the 15th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Foreign ministers and high officials of all 56 member states participated in the meeting, held in Madrid, November 29-30.

The Minister addressed the conference and spoke about issues facing the organization this year, including reforms, election monitoring and the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. He also spoke about Armenia’s upcoming presidential elections. The Minister’s statement concluded with a explanation of Armenia’s position on the current status of the document being negotiated with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

During the course of the annual meeting, Minister Oskanian participated in three meetings devoted to the Nagorno Karabakh resolution process. On the eve of the Ministerial Council, on Wednesday November 28, the Minsk Group co-chairs met with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. They prepared for the meeting which took place the following morning, November 29, in which the top diplomats of the co-chair countries France, Russia and the US – Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Deputy Secretary of State Nicolas Burns – joined co-Chairs Ambassadors Bernard Fassier (France), Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia) and Matt Bryza (US)  to present the parties with a modified Document on Basic Principles. The co-chair leaders explained that the document represented their best effort to reconcile the outstanding differences on the basic principles which the sides have been negotiating for nearly three years. They expressed hope that by formally presenting these ideas, they would ensure that the negotiations continue to move forward from this point, rather than starting from scratch during the upcoming electoral year in both countries.

At the conclusion of the Ministerial Council, on Friday, November 30, the Chairman in Office of the OSCE, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos of Spain received the co-chairs and Minister Oskanian of Armenia and Minister Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan. He reaffirmed the OSCE’s continuing commitment to work with the sides to reach a lasting settlement.

During the Ministerial Council, Minister Oskanian held several bilateral meetings. He met with Swiss President Calmy-Rey, US Deputy Secretary of State Nicolas Burns, Kazakhstani Foreign Minister Marat Tazhin, Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu, Iceland’s Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Solrum Gilsadottir, NATO Special Representative Robert Simmons, ODIHR Director Christian Strohal, OSCE Secretary General Marc de Brichambaud and UNHCR Europe Director Udo Janz. He also participated in a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

The Miniserial Council adopted a Ministerial Statement on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The Statement reads:
“We note with satisfaction that Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to continue the ongoing negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict during the forthcoming election year.
“We support the mediation efforts of the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group and their development with the parties of a set of basic principles for the peaceful settlement of the conflict. We are strongly encouraging both sides to overcome the last remaining differences and thereby to endorse the overall concept of the settlement and to proceed on this basis with dafting a comprehensive Peace Agreement.”