§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to support proposals for a special conference on security in the Caucasus region under the auspices of the OSCE. [96428]
§ Mr. VazWe are committed to supporting existing efforts to promote security in the Caucasus, including the involvement of the OSCE in helping to resolve the conflicts over Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia and, in support of the UN, over Abkhazia. We expect these issues to be discussed at the OSCE Summit in Istanbul, as well as the situation in the North Caucasus, including Chechnya. We believe there may be a role for the OSCE in seeking a resolution to the conflict in Chechnya. But we are not aware of proposals for a special OSCE conference on security in the Caucasus more broadly.