OSCE needs serious reform: Russian FM

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is experiencing a "fairly serious crisis" and "will simply lose its significance for many countries" if it does not undergo a major reform, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here on Tuesday.

Telling reporters at a two-day meeting of the foreign ministers of the OSCE member states in Brussels, Lavrov insisted that Russia needed an OSCE that meets the needs of all its member countries.

"We note the desire of many states to help solve problems that have arisen in the OSCE and overcome today's fairly serious crisis, " he said.

"The steps that have been taken so far haven't gone a long way, " Lavrov said.

"It is in our interest to speed up the process of reform. Otherwise, let me repeat, the OSCE will simply lose its significance for many countries," he said.

One of the OSCE's problems is that the organization has no charter, the minister said.

"Unfortunately, several delegations have once again blocked an agreement to draft a charter. But it is clear that the OSCE will hardly become an adequate organization without such a fundamental document," he said.

Source: Xinhua