RF FM to attend Athens session of OSCE ForMin Council.

ATHENS, December 1 (Itar-Tass) - Matters concerning security in the
Euro-Atlantic space will be the focus of attention of a two-day session of
the Foreign Ministers' Council of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) opening here on Tuesday.
The session will be attended by representatives of 56 member-countries
of the Organization. Russia will be represented by Minister of Foreign
Affairs Sergei Lavrov.
The Russian side expects to discuss the role of the OSCE in the
efforts to combat trans-border threats to security and stability, and to
fix common principles for the prevention and regulation of conflicts. A
reform of the OSCE is expected to be among important subjects of
discussion with a view to raising the efficiency of its activities.
On the eve of the Council's session, Grigoris Delavekuras, spokesman
of the Greek Foreign Ministry, said that the so-called Corfu Process had
possibly become Greece's most important undertaking in the OSCE
activities, through which it revitalized its work.
Along with the OSCE ministerial meeting, a session of the Russia-NATO
Council at Foreign ministers' level was held on the Greek island of
Kerkyra (Corfu) in June this year. Over there, a fresh impetus was given
to the Russian Federation (RF) political relations with the Alliance, the
relations that had been frozen following the conflict in South Ossetia.
The Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "It must be recalled that
Greece, which currently presides over the European Union, appreciated the
proposal made by President Dmitry Medvedev of the RF about a new European
security treaty and its use as a springboard for a constructive dialogue
on all subjects relevant to security in Europe. This dialogue took a
definite shape during the informal meeting of the OSCE Foreign ministers
on Kerkyra. The fact that the participating states in the final analysis
expressed support for these efforts is an indication that groundwork has
been laid for launching a substantial dialogue between partners. The
participating states supported the Corfu Process, confrontation was toned
down, and the (overall) atmosphere improved".
Delavekuras expressed hope that "the 56 member-countries of the OSCE
will avail themselves of the ministerial meeting of December1-2 in Athens
to help the Corfu Process forward to the next stage -- the
institutionalization of this dialogue on the future of European security".
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