EU Presidency Statement - Confidence building measures (CBMs)

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union on the resolution L18 entitled "Confidence building measures in the regional and subregional context". The Acceding Countries (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia), the Associated Countries of Bulgaria and Romania and the EFTA Countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this general statement align themselves with this explanation of vote.

The EU strongly supports the establishment of Confidence and Security building measures as an instrument to overcome mistrust, misunderstandings and miscalculations especially in situations and areas of tension. European Countries have highly benefited from the CBMS and CSBMS which were introduced in Europe in particular through the CSCE/OSCE process. The EU therefore favors the principle of introducing similar concepts into other areas of the world and especially in areas of tensions, and adapting them to the specific local or regional situations.

The EU therefore could accept some elements of draft resolution L.18 on "Confidence Building measures in the Regional and Subregional Context" but cannot ignore the outcome of the debate which took place on this same subject in the UNDC, just a few months ago.

Moreover some provisions of this resolution, in our view, seem to reflect national views with regard to a specific area of tension which are not in line with an overall and balanced approach. The concept of military balance between States in regions of tension, which is not in itself a Confidence building measure, and the request of an involvement of the Secretary General with the States of the regions concerned, acquire a special meaning if applied to the context of specific geographic areas. Some EU member States have brought these concerns to the attention of the sponsor but they were not adequately taken into account.

The EU believes that the text of the draft resolution L.18 Rev.1 is not balanced and therefore we expressed a negative vote. This vote does not in any way imply taking a political position on any particular regional issue.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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