UNSC hears closer UN-European security block call

A closer partnership between the United Nations and the 56-member Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the world's largest regional security grouping, is vital, the UN Security Council heard on Thursday.

Eamon Gilmore, Ireland's Foreign Minister and the Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE, told a Council meeting on Thursday afternoon in New York that the two institutions share core principles and common values that can be applied to numerous security challenges.

"At a time of constrained resources and ever more complex transnational threats, a closer partnership between the OSCE and the UN is indispensable," he said. "Our cooperation has advanced not only in the development of common approaches to the challenges we face, but also at the field operational level."

He cited the work of the OSCE mission in Kosovo as the first example of where the bloc had become an integral part of an operation led by the UN.

"Close and effective cooperation exists in many of the OSCE's 16 field missions with many of the UN agencies, notably with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)."

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