Council of Europe Secretary General, addressing OSCE states, calls for enhanced co-operation

VIENNA, 29 March 2012 – The Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, called on the 56 OSCE participating States today to strengthen co-operation with the Council of Europe.

Addressing a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, Jagland said that the OSCE,  the European Union and the Council of Europe were “the three pillars of the most successful and inspiring peace process in history.”

Recognizing the differences in the mandates and membership of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, he cited common challenges of “threats to democracy by declining electoral participation, but also by populist and extremist discourse, deficits in the functioning of judicial systems, creating the conditions for living together in dignity, fighting corruption, and combating terrorism.”

Jagland praised the “frequent contacts at working level between the OSCE and the Council of Europe” and outlined recent initiatives taken by his organization to further improve coordination with the OSCE and its institutions, including the opening last year of Council of Europe liaison offices in Vienna and Warsaw.

He said he believed there was potential for enhanced co-operation and looked forward to discussing with the OSCE practical proposals for “greater synergies” to ensure “better coherence and complementarity.”