Joint actions needed to enhance common approach towards tolerance and nondiscrimination

Your Excellency, you are one of the honorary guests of the III Congress, so please tell us your expectations about the congress.  What is the main message of the OSCE to the participants of the Congress and your expectation in the context of the mandate of your organization?

I can repeat that the main message of the OSCE to the participants of the Congress was to highlight that the issues of tolerance and non-discrimination are an integral part of consolidation of peace by helping to avoid conflicts and promote stability.  This is what the OSCE has been involved in over its history.  The freedom to practice one's religion was proclaimed in 1975 by the Helsinki Final Act and through its activities, the OSCE has been trying to promote non-discrimination against different forms of religions and the protection of religious minorities. So this was the core of the message. I think it complemented very well the overall message of dialogue among traditional and world religions, and it raised some of the next steps in the process of dialogue beyond the discussion in general.  But we need to go further and start joint practical actions to enhance the common approach of the major traditional and world religions towards the issue of tolerance and nondiscrimination.

Mr. Ambassador, some voices call for new forms or approach to international cooperation that will make it possible to overcome global challenges taking into account current financial crisis?  Will globalization result in unification of economy and cultures, not diminishing role of moral and spiritual values?

In my opinion, globalization has taken shape basically in the field of economy and it has started to make a great progress not only in this field but also in the field of exchange of information and also in the field of security.  What emerges from the discussions of this congress is that all the major religions are recognized worldwide and form part of the globalization process.  Therefore, they have a responsibility to work together to ensure peace and to remind all communities of the world of the importance of spiritual values, which are essential parts of the cohabitation of people in the globalized world.  So I think this is a very difficult and challenging process, but it is a process in which Kazakhstan is greatly cooperating by bringing together all those leaders and helping them to talk to each other.

In 2005 when you took the office of the Secretary General these events in Uzbekistan happened.  At that time I attended the lecture in Amsterdam University where one of the OSCE representatives noted that the European Union had been more involved in this issue.  After that I sent a letter to OSCE officials where I reiterated that the OSCE should not diminish its role due to EU existence.  Do you agree with the fact that all Central Asian countries are quite different from each other from many points of views?  Do you believe that Kazakhstan's chairmanship will be something very special, not because it is the first Central Asian country taking Chairmanship?

Certainly Central Asia is a complex region, with relevance for the international scene for many reasons.  First of all, it is close to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and can play a key role in addressing the threat of drug trafficking and extremism. It is also crucial in terms of energy resources.  So there is increasing attention to everything that happens in Central Asia, and this is natural.  Secondly, compared to European countries, Central Asia is undergoing a very complex set of social and cultural changes in its traditional behavior, towards democracy.  Finally, though all countries are located in one region, of course, they are not all the same in terms of political and economic development, possession of natural resources, environmental challenges etc.. In this sense, each country is following its own path and each country is trying to find its own approach, its own balance to different issues. But it is important for the OSCE to serve as a framework of values and commitments to help those processes and to make sure that this increased relevance of Central Asia occurs in a context of peace and cooperation.  It will not be simple, and I think having the chair of OSCE Kazakhstan will ensure that more attention will be paid by participating States towards this region and Central Asia itself will feel that it has a higher degree of responsibility.  I do believe we all are entering a very interesting and challenging period.

As far as Kazakhstan's forthcoming chairmanship of the OSCE I think it is something which is being thoroughly prepared and will develop till the year of 2010 in many different dimensions.  As I said during my press conference, the Secretariat of the Organization will assist Kazakhstan in preparation for the chairmanship.  We are grateful for the measures taken by Kazakhstan to prepare for accession to the chairmanship.  We are going to deal together with problems which we know and problems which we need to identify, for example problems in which the OSCE has been involved through its whole historical life, like protracted and/or potential conflict, support for election monitoring, and dealing with a number of new security challenges.  The main topics that Kazakhstan should address while chairing the Organization will be strengthening of the supremacy of Law and civil and democratic institutions, discussion of the situation in Afghanistan and strengthening of its borders.

At the same time, I do not exclude a number of unexpected challenges, because there will be crises, including problems deriving from the economic crisis and political difficulties in the Caucasus, which will call for Kazakhstan to rise to the occasion.  I do not know when and how such crises willarise.  But I know that we live in a complicated period of world history and that there will be many unforeseen challenges.  So the OSCE is a project in the making and time will show how it works.

Many participants of the III Congress say that they have been impressed by our interethnic relations and wellbeing of religious communities reached after independence of Kazakhstan.  There is an opinion that it happened also due to the fact that Kazakhstan is a large but low populated country, where during hundreds years people of different ethnic background had to survive in harsh living conditions, got used to help those who needed and strangers, support each other as brothers and sisters in one family.  Do you believe that interethnic and interfaith relations in Kazakhstan can be a model for other countries in the world?

Yes, I do.  I am sure that it is thanks to the people of Kazakhstan who have shown their tolerance and brotherhood, as well as the country's leadership.  But nothing should ever be taken for granted, and Kazakhstan also is a great example in terms of the process of minority education or the practical implementation of the rule of law and different forms of legislation that ensure that this model can continue to work effectively and successfully.  So I think we should all be very pleased and proud of the current situation in your country and we should encourage all measures that are needed to work for the prosperous future of all communities.

Biography:

Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, OSCE Secretary General 

Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut of France took up his post as Secretary General of the OSCE in June 2005.  He had previously held a number of senior positions in the French administration, as well as in international organizations as a member of the Conseil d'Etat.  He was born in Rabat, Morocco, on 29 October 1948, and studied at France's Ecole Nationale d'Administration in Paris, from where he graduated in 1974. 

Ambassador de Brichambaut started his career at the Conseil d'Etat, first as an administrative judge, later as Conseiller d'Etat.  In 1978, he was posted to New York to work as Special Assistant to the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for International Economic and Social Affairs.  He returned to Paris in 1981, where he became an adviser to French Foreign Minister Claude Cheysson.

In 1983 and 1984, he was Chief of Staff to Roland Dumas, then Minister of European Affairs.  When Mr. Dumas became Foreign Minister, Ambassador de Brichambaut continued to serve as his Chief of Staff.  In 1986, he moved to New York as Cultural Counsellor for the French Embassy, returning to Paris in 1988 as Principal Adviser to Defence Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement.

From 1991 to 1994, Ambassador de Brichambaut represented France as Head of Delegation at the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in Vienna, which in due course became the OSCE.  From 1994 to 1998, he headed the French Foreign Ministry's Legal Division.  His most recent post prior to his appointment as OSCE Secretary General was as Director for Strategic Affairs at the French Defence Ministry from 1998.  He is married and has two children.