2 December 2009 / ,
Foreign ministers from Europe’s main security organization met in Athens on Tuesday to try to work out a response to Russia’s proposal for a new Euro-Atlantic security pact.
Russia published a proposal on Sunday for a new security treaty that would restrict its own ability to use military force unilaterally provided the United States and its European allies agreed to do the same. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the European Security Treaty is needed to replace Cold War-era institutions that are ill-suited to defusing tensions in a multipolar world, but his proposals have received a muted reception in the West. Diplomats said it was not clear whether the two-day Athens meeting of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States and Russia, would make progress on the issue. At a previous OSCE meeting in Greece in June, the West showed it was skeptical about the draft Russian plan, saying it should not undermine NATO or the OSCE. Ministers like France’s Bernard Kouchner said there was no need for any new structures. “The OSCE provides an irreplaceable framework for restoring confidence, for restoring trust and enhancing cooperation,” Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said at the opening of the meeting. Athens Reuters
