Spain wholeheartedly thanks the Kingdom of Thailand for its warm hospitality and for hosting the 2016 OSCE Asian Conference in Bangkok. Last year we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the OSCE Asian Partnership for Cooperation. Along these two decades we have enjoyed an excellent level of cooperation with our Asian partners, who show a great interest and commitment to the OSCE principles and activities, make substantial contributions to our dialogues on the many aspects of comprehensive security, provide financial support to the OSCE’s initiatives and make generous contributions to some of its Missions.
We have walked a long way together since on 5 November 1995, the Permanent Council decided to apply for the first time the term “Partners for Cooperation” to some Asian Partners, thus providing the framework for the Asian Partnership for Cooperation. In the Madrid Ministerial Council of 2007 we advocated “the development of the Mediterranean Seminars and Conferences with the Asian Partners for Cooperation into effective channels of communication between countries in different regions”. Since then, our monthly meetings with our Partners for Cooperation and the annual Conferences have become effective fora to advance our common agenda of security through cooperation. And in Astana, we acknowledged that the security of the OSCE area is inextricably linked to that of adjacent areas. We believe that the OSCE’s unique comprehensive approach to security is relevant for strengthening our security cooperation with Asia, based on shared principles and commitments.
Last year has been an intense and fruitful one for the Spanish diplomacy since we entered in the UN Security Council in January 2015. Spain has used its membership of the Security Council to promote peace and security throughout the world, in areas and topics that are also very relevant for the stability and prosperity of Asia.
In its capacity as Security Council penholder for Afghanistan, Spain promoted Resolution 2210, renewing the mandate of UNAMA, the UN Mission in that country. During our Chairmanship of the Security Council in October of last year, we organised a High level Discussion on the implementation of Resolution 1325 on “Women, Peace and Security” and we promoted the adoption of a new Resolution, Resolution 2242, emphasising the need to enhance prevention, to strengthen the mandates and to adapt them to the circumstances on the ground and reinforcing the roles and leadership of women. In our capacity of Chair of the 1540 committee we will conduct this year the Global Review of the implementation of this Resolution, to which the OSCE can make a substantial contribution. We also Chaired the 1737 Iran sanctions Committee, thus contributing to the viability of the nuclear agreement with Iran and once the sanctions regime was suspended, Spain was elected to be the Security Council Facilitator for the implementation of Resolution 2231 endorsing the nuclear agreement and stipulating the lifting of sanctions. Lastly, as Chair of the 1718 Committee on sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, we co-sponsored Resolution 2270 in response to the nuclear and ballistic tests carried out by the DPRK, which we have also condemned, and we will keep working on the effective implementation of the current sanctions regime to put an end to the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic program. We think that each of these committees, in its area of attention, has contributed to making the Euro-Asian region and the world a safer place.
This year, we will continue our efforts to strengthen preventive diplomacy and to include the gender perspective in our prevention endeavours. We will keep paying special attention to peace-keeping and peace-building; to the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law; and to the fight against the violation of human rights, especially those of women and children caught up in armed conflicts.
In particular, we will support the implementation of UNSC Resolution 2250 (2015) to increase representation of youth in decision-making at all levels, to promote the meaningful participation of young people in peace processes and dispute resolution and to prevent the radicalization among young people, and we will invigorate the works of the “Group of Youth” in the OSCE to this end. We will incorporate the new threats and recommendations emerging from the 1540 Global Review to the architecture of Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. We will make good use of Spain’s painful experience in the fight against terrorism to strengthen the mechanisms to combat this scourge, in close cooperation with the Counter-Terrorism Committee and placing special emphasis on the respect of the rule of law and human rights. And we will also keep working on renewed ways to address global challenges such as climate change, water security and cybersecurity.
As you can see, all these are very relevant topics for our shared agenda of comprehensive and cooperative security within the OSCE and with our Asian Partners. We hope that we can count on the support of all participating States and Partners to advance it and move it forward.
Regional cooperation is essential, not only for regional security, but also for the world’s peace and stability. The rich agenda of this Asian Conference, with discussions on strengthening security cooperation, promoting the Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure peace and security, and sharing experiences on trafficking of human beings and irregular migration, will help us identify areas in which we can work together for a more secure Euro-Asian space and a safer world. Spain will engage itself constructively in the discussions and will keep working closely with the Asian Partners to foster our cooperation and security in all these areas.
Thank you