TÁNAISTE AND Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore has urged Russia to heed the recommendations of a sharply critical report from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe when it holds presidential elections in March.
Mr Gilmore laid out his priorities for Ireland’s year as chairman of the 56-nation OSCE at its headquarters in Vienna yesterday, just as the pan-European organisation released a damning final appraisal of December’s fraud-tainted Russian parliamentary elections.
“The report points to a number of shortcomings in the election campaign and voting process and in particular the counting process. Russia now has an opportunity to address these shortcomings,” Mr Gilmore said.
In the wake of the election, tens of thousands of Russians protested against alleged vote-rigging, corruption in prime minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and his plan to return to the Kremlin in March – simply swapping jobs with current president Dmitry Medvedev.
“The preliminary report [by OSCE monitors] contributed to the response in Russia to the parliamentary elections, which is a healthy sign for society. It is also encouraging that the protests took place in a largely peaceful environment,” Mr Gilmore said.
“The observation mission produced a robust, independent report, the recommendations of which I hope would be implemented.”
Mr Gilmore said a key priority for Ireland’s chairmanship would be the promotion of internet freedom, given that “as in other parts of the world, the threat to freedom of expression online is ever-present in the OSCE region, and appears to be growing.”
Issues surrounding media freedom will be addressed in June at a major conference for OSCE states in Dublin, which Mr Gilmore said would make a suitable location for such discussions due to its role as European base for several of the world’s leading information technology firms.
Ireland will also seek progress on so-called protracted conflicts involving Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova, which remain unresolved some two decades after they erupted in war.
“We in Ireland know all too well the devastating cost of conflict . . . This experience may be of benefit in facilitating the efforts which are needed to resolve outstanding conflicts in the OSCE region,” Mr Gilmore said, adding that a conflict-resolution conference was planned for Dublin in April.
Mr Gilmore is expected to visit Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in March.
His special envoy for Moldova, Erwan Fouere, is due to travel to Moldova and its breakaway region of Transdniestria this month ahead of talks in Dublin at the end of February.
Those negotiations involve representatives of Moldova, Transdniestria, Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE, with US and EU officials in attendance as observers. Formal talks resumed late last year after a six-year hiatus.
Ireland will also focus on “tackling transnational threats, such as organised crime, cyber threats including cyber crime, drugs, terrorism and trafficking”.