News

USIS Washington File

16 November 1999

Text: U.S. Welcomes Adoption of Revised Vienna Document 1999

(Facilitates transparency and confidence in military activities) (780)

Josiah Rosenblatt, deputy chief of the U.S. mission to the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), welcomed
November 16 the adoption of a revised Vienna Document as a major step
toward boosting transparency and mutual confidence among OSCE members
with regard to their military forces and military activities.

Rosenblatt's remarks came at the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation
in Istanbul, which is a prelude to the OSCE Summit to be held there
November 18-19.

The revised document includes important changes that "strengthen the
Vienna Document and make it even more applicable to today's
politico-military realities," he said.

The process of reviewing the Vienna Document 1994 -- which itself was
an update of confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs)
contained in documents adopted in 1986, 1990 and 1992 -- "has
demonstrated that we already have a mature and sturdy collection of
CSBMs," Rosenblatt said.

"We now have several years' experience with the Vienna Document and
its implementation. Over the years, it has played a critical role in
helping ensure transparency, predictability, and cooperation on
security-related matters. We remain committed to ensuring that the
Vienna Document 1999 will continue to play the same important role."

Following is the text of Rosenblatt's statement:

(begin text)

U.S. Mission to the OSCE
Istanbul, Turkey
November 16, 1999


STATEMENT ON VIENNA DOCUMENT DELIVERED BY DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION
JOSIAH ROSENBLATT TO THE OSCE FORUM FOR SECURITY COOPERATION, ISTANBUL

Mr. Chairman, the United States welcomes the adoption of a revised
Vienna Document. This is an another important step in our efforts to
ensure that the Vienna Document fulfills its important role of
facilitating increased transparency and mutual confidence with regard
to the military forces and military activities of all OSCE
participating States. Our decision today at Istanbul fulfills the
mandate we established for ourselves on December 10, 1997 in FSC
Decision 15/97.

In that decision, we committed ourselves to review the Vienna Document
with the objectives of reflecting agreements already reached and
considering measures and amendments to existing provisions to enhance
transparency, predictability and co-operation. We have accomplished
these tasks, and -- in our opinion -- we can take pride in our
accomplishments. We recognize many of us suffered disappointments
during the review process.

Many delegations -- including my own -- put forward new ideas and
proposals for consideration. For example, we and others had high hopes
for the inclusion of provisions related to military infrastructure
transparency and new aircraft types. After thorough consideration,
however, few of these proposals have survived the review process and
are included in Vienna Document 1999. That said, we believe that the
review process has resulted in two important outcomes.

First, the Vienna Document 1999 includes a number of new and important
changes. These changes strengthen the Vienna Document and make it even
more applicable to today's politico-military realities. Second,
however, and equally as important, the process itself has demonstrated
that we already have a mature and sturdy collection of CSBMs. This
review has helped us understand that there is a finite number of
militarily significant CSBMs that are capable of achieving consensus
on an OSCE-wide scale.

We now know that we have accomplished what we can in this area. We now
have several years' experience with the Vienna Document and its
implementation. Over the years, it has played a critical role in
helping ensure transparency, predictability, and cooperation on
security-related matters. We remain committed to ensuring that the
Vienna Document 1999 will continue to play the same important role.
Mr. Chairman I would be remiss if I did not publicly and sincerely
thank all of those who have worked so hard for this decision here
today. I want to, in particular, note the extraordinary efforts of two
individuals -- Mr. Paul Flaherty and Mr. Francois LaRochelle -- who
have served as coordinators of the Vienna Document review process.

Mr. Flaherty had the unenviable task of seeking to impose some
semblance of order and discipline on the first phase of the review
process. It is in no small part due to his efforts that we are where
we are today, and we want to express gratitude to him and recognize
his efforts. Mr. LaRochelle has shown extraordinary skill, diligence,
patience, and creativity in guiding this process to its conclusion --
often in the face of differing and strongly held views from a number
of delegations, including my own. We commend him, and on behalf of the
United States, I thank him for his efforts.

(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State)