Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 138: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the assistance that is given by his Department to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7645/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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In addition to meeting Ireland's obligatory assessed contributions to the organisation my Department assists the OSCE in a number of ways by contributing financially to programmes in its various fields of activity, notably democratisation and rule of law.

My Department also nominates Defence Forces personnel who have been identified for deployment by our Defence authorities to the OSCE for its various field activities. At present there is one Irish officer serving in each of the OSCE field operations in Albania and in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Three others serve with the border monitoring operation in Georgia, two in the OSCE mission in Serbia and Montenegro and one is assigned to the high level planning group based in Vienna. In addition my Department nominates civilians for service as secondees to OSCE field operations. Currently OSCE has a total of 18 field operations. My Department contributes to selected OSCE election observer missions both by making a financial contribution to the cost of missions and by sending Irish personnel to observe the elections.

The total in non-obligatory financial assistance given to OSCE in 2004 was €243,161.

Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 143: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's views on the approach of Russia to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7642/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As the Taoiseach underlined at the EU-US Summit on 22 February, Russia is an important and strategic partner of the European Union. This partnership is moving forward rapidly in the economic area. However, there are difficulties in the relationship at this time and these include the question of Russia's attitude to the OSCE.

The Government is concerned that the attitude of the Russian Federation to the OSCE is less positive today than it was during the decade which immediately followed the break up of the former Soviet Union. This is having a negative effect on the ability of the organisation to advance its objectives. We see, for example, an organisation which is at risk of paralysis because consensus is lacking on budgetary and financial issues and whose annual ministerial meeting in each of the last two years has failed to agree a declaration to which all 55 participating states could subscribe. Russia's refusal to renew the mandate of the OSCE border monitoring operation in Georgia at the end of last year and its limited cooperation in resolving the so called frozen conflicts in the OSCE region are also worrying. A particular concern for Ireland and for like minded participating states is Russia's systematic attempt to curtail the activities of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, ODIHR.

As I understand it, this less positive attitude reflects a number of factors: the Russian perception that there is an imbalance at this point between the three dimensions of OSCE activities, political-military, economic and human, with disproportionate attention being given to the human dimension; its belief that Russia is paying an unfair share of the costs of the organisation; and crucially, an underlying feeling that the values promoted by the OSCE are somehow the values of the states west of Vienna and not the universal values which all 55 participating states are committed to uphold. The last mentioned factor challenges the OSCE in a fundamental way. It suggests, I regret to say, that instead of a convergence of values a gap is developing between Russia and the West in the area of democratic standards and human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Ireland and the European Union do not exclude looking again at the balance between the three dimensions of the activities of OSCE although we would ask why there is a need to focus on political and military issues in the post-Cold War Europe. What we cannot accept is any diminution or dilution of the standards which OSCE has already defined, with respect to conditions for free and fair elections for example. We strongly favour continued engagement with Russia in OSCE and outside it. The participating states of the OSCE have come a long way from the time when the CSCE was as much a forum for confrontation as for cooperation. A review of its recent history shows that the OSCE made significant progress when all participating states including Russia worked together. It would be a great pity if the OSCE, whose composition gives it a unique role in helping to prevent, contain and resolve conflict in Europe became unable to pursue these objectives effectively.