Media Freedom Stressed In Vienna Council Address

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will address a meeting in Vienna of the Permanent Council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) today on Ireland’s plans for its Chairmanship of the OSCE next year.

In his address, the Tánaiste will state that Ireland shall adopt a pragmatic approach to its Chairmanship, ensuring a balanced and coherent approach to the work of the Organisation across all its various areas of activity.

The Tánaiste will say: “We view our year-long Chairmanship as an opportunity to project our foreign policy values on to the international stage: the values of multilateral cooperation and respect for human rights, which also lie at the very core of the norms, principles and commitments of the OSCE.”

He added: “During its Chairmanship, Ireland, with a well-established reputation as an honest broker in multilateral affairs, aims to facilitate a positive engagement by all participating States in dealing with the significant challenges facing the Organisation.”

The Tánaiste will also state that Ireland would seek during its Chairmanship to prioritise the issue of Freedom of the Media, in particular, internet-based media, given the unparalleled scope the Internet now offers for empowering citizens with information about decisions affecting their lives.

Last night the Tánaiste gave an address to the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, entitled “Ireland: Crisis, Recovery and Renewal”, in which he set out the Government’s response, and the progress already made, in overcoming the serious economic challenges facing the country. The Tánaiste outlined that these efforts are part of a wider financial and economic response to a crisis which is in essence European, and to which a solution can only be found in the wider European framework and that “there is no shortage of determination or of ambition to get this right”.

(BMcN)