1457th (Special) Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council
Statement by H.E Ambassador Ian Biggs, Australia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organisations in Vienna
25 January 2024
Thank you, and welcome Foreign Minister Borg to the Permanent Council as OSCE Chair-in-Office for 2024.
We assure you of Australia’s full support to Malta as Chair, and we look forward to working with Participating States and Partners for Co-operation this year.
Chair
We will soon enter a third year of Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s war of aggression violates the fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Aside from the terrible damage and loss of life in Ukraine, the war is also compounding human suffering and propelling the global crisis in food and energy security.
Russia’s procurement and use of North Korean ballistic missiles and Iranian drones against Ukraine undermines global non-proliferation efforts and enables Russia’s brutal targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Australia will continue to implement measures, including targeted financial sanctions and travel bans, to ensure that those who provide material support to Russia’s war effort will face consequences.
Australia condemns Russia’s invasion in the strongest terms, and remains committed to empowering Ukraine to end the war on its own terms. Our support will continue, and we welcome Malta’s prioritisation of seeking solutions to assist Ukraine through the OSCE in 2024.
For Australia, 2024 will see us continue to collaborate with our partners to uphold the international rules-based system and to strengthen the rules-based order. We will continue to support the strengthening of mechanisms by which all countries can ensure their sovereignty and prosperity – regardless of size, development status, or military or economic coercion by external forces.
We see open channels of communication and practical measures as crucial to reducing misunderstanding and miscalculation, and in preserving what makes our region prosperous – peace and stability.
Australia’s efforts will support the centralisation of regional bodies such as ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum, and we will work with our partners to respond to the most pressing challenges of our time, including climate change and rising inequality.
We will continue to support countries in our region to express their democratic values, and will work with those whose expressions of democracy are threatened by external actors.
Australia welcomes Malta’s focus on an inclusive approach to comprehensive security, including by increasing the engagement of women and youth in building peace and security.
Australia is proud to champion the Women, Peace and Security agenda by contributing to global and regional initiatives that advance women’s participation and leadership in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, mediation, and relief and recovery.
We welcome further collaboration with the OSCE on this important issue through knowledge sharing and practical cooperation with the Asian Partners.
Chair
We look forward to supporting your agenda this year, and to continued collaboration with OSCE Participating States and Partners for Co-operation.
Thank you.