The Meeting of the CSCE Council1

Claude Altermatt

Introduction The Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of CSCE participating States, a cscE institution established in 1990, convened for its third regular meeting in Stockholm, on 14-15 December 1992. Delegates from only 49 of the 52 participating States attended the Meeting, since Yugoslavia has been suspended from all CSCE activities since 8 July 1992, and the Central Asian Republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan did not send any representatives to the Stockholm meeting. Forty-three Foreign Ministers2 travelled to Stockholm in order to participate in the debates chaired by Ms. Margaretha af Ugglas, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden and the Council's new Chairman-in-Office. The EC Commission was represented by Mr. Frans Andriessen, who was a member of the uK/EC Delegation which held the EC presidency. The presence of representatives the , the UN, the WEU, and of Lord Owen, Co-Chairman of the International Conference on the former Yugo- slavia, should be mentioned as well.' Japan, awarded a special status since July 1992 as a non-participating State, sent a delegation chaired by its Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. In the light of such an eminent attendance, it is a fact that cscE Council meetings are becoming something of an event, during which almost all top representatives of Foreign Ministries and International Organizations related to Eurasian affairs gather in the spirit of highly diplo- matic endeavour. As the Third Council opened, the chairmanship passed from to Sweden. From this time and until the next regular Meeting of the Council, the political consultation process within the CSCE will be led and coordinated by the Foreign Minister of Sweden. A senior official of her Ministry, Ambassador Anders Bjurner, is entrusted with the chairmanship of the Committee of Senior Officials (cso) of the CSCE. The Swedish Chair will last until the next regular Meeting of the Council, scheduled to take place in November or December 1993 in Rome. In Stockholm, the composition of the CSCE Troika changed as well. While Germany (the first Chairman of the cscE, June 1991- January 1992) stepped down from its function in the Troika, joined this board, whose

1. This article only reflectsthe personalviews of the author. The article was completedin December1992. 2. Luxembourgsent its Secretaryof State, while Iceland, Liechtenstein,Monaco and the Netherlandswere representedby their respectiveCSCE Senior Officialsat Ambassador level. 3. The Councilof Europewas representedby its secretary,Mrs. CatherineLalumi?re; the UN was representedby its Under Secretary-General,Mr. VladimirPetrovskij. The representa- tive of the WEUwas Mr. Willemvan Eekelen,Secretary-General of that organization. 6 existence was mentioned for the first time in the Helsinki Document 1992 - the Challenges of Change.4 The Slovak Republic will replace Czechoslovakia as a member of the Troika from January 1993. The organization of the Stockholm Council was in the hands of the Host Country Coordinator together with the staff of the CSCESecretariat.

Preparations The Council Meeting was preceded as usual by a regular cso Meeting, which devoted itself to the preparation of the Council. An informal working group had in fact already met in Prague from 23-25 November 1992, and had drafted a first text. The 18th cso which commenced in Stockholm on 11December, was chaired for the last time by Czechoslovakia - not only as Chairman of the cso but also as a State. In view of the amount of work and the challenges of the present time, this 18th cso functioned mostly in subcommittees, drafting parts of the Summary of Conclusions of the Stockholm Meeting.

1'he Meeting On 14 December, the meeting started with an address by the Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr. . However, delegate and media attention shifted quickly to the two interventions made by the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Andrej Kozyrev. The spirit of old times emerged after the first Russian Foreign Minister's declaration. In this statement the Minister stated:

"I must introducecorrections in the conceptof Russianforeign policy, about the part of which concerningCSCE problems I wish to informyou briefly.First: Whilefully maintainingthe policy of entry into Europe,we clearly recognizethat our traditionsin many respects,if not fundamentally,lie in Asia, and this sets limitsto our rapprochementwith WesternEurope. We see, alongsidesome evolution,essentially unchanged strategies on the part of NATOand WEU which are drawingup plansto strengthentheir militarypresence in the Balticand other regions on the territory of the formerSoviet Union and to interferein Bosniaand the internalaffairs of Yugoslavia.Clearly, sanctions against the SRYwere dictatedby this policy.We demandthat they be lifted, and if this does not happen, we reserve our right to take the necessaryunilateral measuresto defendour interests,especially since they causeus economicharm. In its strugglethe presentGovernment of Serbiacan counton the supportof the great Russia.Second: The spaceof the former Soviet Union cannotbe regardedas a zone of full applicationof CSCEnorms. In essence, this is a post-imperialspace, in which Russia has to defend its interests, using all availablemeans, includingmilitary and economicmeans. We shall stronglyinsist that the former USSRRepublics join withoutdelay the new Federationor Confederation,and there will be tough talks on this matter. Third: All those who think that they can disregardthese particularitiesand interests,that Russia will undergothe fate of the SovietUnion, shouldnot forget that we are talkingof a State that is capableof standingup for itselfand its friends.We are, of course,ready to play a constructivepart in the workof the CSCECouncil, although we shall be very cautiousin our approachto ideasleading to interferencein internalaffairs. I reservethe right to speakagain on specificitems.

4. Chapter 1, Paragraph15: "The Chairman-in-Office be assisted the and may by preceding. succeedingChairmen, operating together as a Troika,in carryingout entrustedtasks." 5. This is an unofficialtranslation of the statement.