LITHUANIA CO-ORGANIZES SEMINAR ON CO-OPERATION IN NORTHEAST ASIA
On 13-14 November 2012 the Lithuanian Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Amb. Giedrius Čekuolis, took part in the Seminar on Co-operation for Security and Development in Northeast Asia and the OSCE Experience.
This two-day high-level expert event was organized at the OSCE premises in Vienna in close co-operation between the Austrian Center for International Studies (ACIS), the Irish OSCE Chairmanship and the Lithuanian Chair of the OSCE Contact Group with Asian Partners for Co-operation. The activity was also co-funded by the Governments of Kazakhstan and Lithuania through the OSCE Partnership Fund.
The ACIS Director Dr. Frances Mautner-Markhof, the Chairperson of the OSCE Permanent Council Ambassador Eoin O'Leary (Ireland) and the Lithuanian Permanent Representative in his capacity as the Chairperson of the OSCE Asian Contact Group spoke at the opening. Amb. Giedrius Čekuolis also moderated one of the seven working sessions of the seminar. Other seminar participants included high-ranking diplomats, military officers and researchers from the Republic of Korea, Australia, China, Germany, Japan, Mongolia, Russia, and the United States, as well as from the OSCE Secretariat.
In his opening address, Amb. Čekuolis welcomed the participants and expressed the view that the following parts of the OSCE experience bore particular relevance in the context of security co-operation in Northeast Asia: conflict resolution; confidence building; comprehensive concept of security; and, as part of the latter, its human dimension which deals with human rights and fundamental freedoms. "No balance of military power can make a society genuinely secure unless its individuals enjoy the entire spectrum of human rights, can freely elect their political leaders, express themselves without fear of persecution or punishment, exercise their religions or beliefs, and face no discrimination. Such societies are more likely to resolve problems peacefully and effectively and to live in peace and harmony, internally and with each other", he stressed.
The discussions at the seminar focused on measures to advance the process of multilateral co-operation for security and development in Northeast Asia; OSCE experience relevant for such co-operation; confidence and security-building measures for risk- and conflict-prevention and reduction, and for stability, security and co-operation in the region; and furthering the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
The ACIS will subsequently produce a report from this event which will be distributed to all OSCE delegations.
