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75–196 2015

THE FUTURE OF THE OSCE MEDITERRANEAN 

PARTNERS FOR COOPERATION 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND 

COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JULY 23, 2009 

Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe 

( 

Available via http://www.csce.gov 


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(II) 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS 

SENATE HOUSE 

BENJAMIN CARDIN, Maryland, 

Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER DODD, Connecticut 

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas 

SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia 

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina 

ROGER WICKER, Mississippi 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

ALCEE HASTINGS, Florida, 

Co-Chairman 

EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts 

LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER, 

New York 

MIKE MCINTYRE, North Carolina 

G.K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina 

JOSEPH PITTS, Pennsylvania 

ROBERT ADERHOLT, Alabama 

DARRELL ISSA, California 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS 

MICHAEL POSNER, Department of State 

ALEXANDER VERSHBOW, Department of Defense 


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(III) 

THE FUTURE OF THE OSCE MEDITERRANEAN 

PARTNERS FOR COOPERATION 

JULY 23, 2009 

COMMISSIONERS 

Page 

Hon. Alcee Hastings, Co-Chairman, Commission on Security 

and Cooperation in Europe ..................................................... 1 

Hon. Benjamin Cardin, Chairman, Commission on Security 

and Cooperation in Europe ..................................................... 3 

Hon. Mike McIntyre, Commissioner, Commission on Security 

and Cooperation in Europe ..................................................... 4 

Hon. Darrell Issa, Commissioner, Commission on Security 

and Cooperation in Europe ..................................................... 5 

Hon. Robert Aderholt, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe .............................................. 13 

MEMBERS 

Hon. Gwen Moore, Commissioner, a member of Congress 

from the State of Wisconsin .................................................... 5 

WITNESSES 

William Hudson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State ................................... 5 

Sotiris Roussos, Personal Representative on Mediterranean 

Partner Affairs, OSCE ............................................................ 13 

Joa ̃o Soares, President, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly ......... 16 


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(1) 

THE FUTURE OF THE OSCE MEDITERRANEAN 

PARTNERS FOR COOPERATION 

JULY 23, 2009 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE, Washington, DC. 

The hearing was held from 2:01 to 3:25 p.m. EST in 210 Cannon 

House Office Building, Washington, DC, Hon. Alcee Hastings, CoChairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 

presiding. 

Commissioners present: Hon. Benjamin Cardin, Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Alcee Hastings, Co-Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in 

Europe; Hon. Mike McIntyre, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Darrell Issa, Commissioner, 

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and Hon. Robert Aderholt, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. 

Members present: Hon. Gwen Moore, a Member of Congress from 

the State of Wisconsin. 

Witnesses present: William Hudson, Deputy Assistant Secretary 

for Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Sotiris 

Roussos, Personal Representative on Mediterranean Partner Affairs, OSCE; and Joa ̃o Soares, President, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. 

HON. ALCEE HASTINGS, CO-CHAIRMAN, 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. HASTINGS. It’s my distinct honor to convene this hearing of 

the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe on ‘‘The 

Future of the OSCE Mediterranean Partners for Cooperation.’’ I 

welcome you all here today—and so does the thunder, apparently— 

and commend the leadership of my good friend who will be here 

shortly—who is here now—of Senator Ben Cardin, who serves as 

chair of the Helsinki Commission, and my fellow commissioners. 

We’ve been joined by Mr. McIntyre and others are coming, I believe. 

For the past several years I have served as Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s special 

representative for Mediterranean affairs. And I’ve had the distinct 

pleasure of having been appointed by President Emeritus 

Lennmarker in that capacity, and by the now-president of the parliamentary assembly, Joa ̃o Soares, also, to the same capacity. 

The objectives are to enhance the long-standing relationship between the OSCE participating states and the Mediterranean PartVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Aug 04, 2015 Jkt 075196 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A196.XXX A196

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ners for Cooperation that extends back to the Helsinki act of 1975 

of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, now the 

OSCE. 

In the succeeding decades the OSCE Participating States and 

their Mediterranean partners have worked to increase mutual confidence and develop economic and environmental cooperation in 

order to promote security and stability throughout Europe and the 

Mediterranean basin. It is through this unique forum that Algeria, 

Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco—as my friend from Morocco enters 

the room—and Tunisia continue develop their capacity for leadership in the region, all the while exchanging expertise with the 

OSCE participating states. 

Near the end of 2008, I toured all of the Mediterranean Partner 

states, with the exception of Jordan—which I have visited on many 

occasions. During discussions with my interlocutors, beginning in 

Morocco, that I proposed bringing them and asking them to come 

to Washington to have a candid discussion about participation 

mechanisms for their partnership with the OSCE and how these 

might be improved. 

Over the past two days, the proposal that I made last December 

became a reality. High-level delegations of parliamentarians and 

dignitaries and academics from the OSCE Mediterranean Partners 

states—of all of the partner states—gathered here in the Capitol 

Visitor Center for the Helsinki Commission’s ‘‘Seminar on OSCE 

Mediterranean Partner Engagement.’’ 

These delegations were joined by the gentleman who’s walking 

there, now—my president of the OSCE parliamentary assembly, 

Joa ̃o Soares of Portugal—and by previously-mentioned presidentemeritus Go ̈ran Lennmarker of Sweden and vice president of the 

OSCE, Jerry Grafstein of Canada, and representatives of the Greek 

chair in office, and representatives of the future Kazakh chair in 

office, and Ambassador Jonas Hafstro ̈m on behalf of the Swedish 

presidency of the European Union. 

Sessions for this seminar included notable panelists, such as 

Paul Fritch of the OSCE Secretariat, an exciting presentation this 

morning by Dalia Mogahed of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, Barry Pavel of the National Security Council, and a thoughtprovoking professor, Dr. Ian Lesser, of the German Marshall Fund. 

Our discussions with these panelists centered on OSCE Mediterranean Partner participation mechanisms, security in the Mediterranean, youth empowerment and challenges of the OSCE region, respectively. 

I’m going to ask unanimous consent that the rest of my statement be made a part of the record in the interest of time and because so many of my colleagues are here. But we are joined by distinguished witnesses who will help us to synthesize the topics discussed throughout our seminar as well as share their vision for future or empowerment of the OSCE Mediterranean Partners. 

I’ll identify our panelists after I hear from colleagues and I’d like 

now to ask the chair of the CSCE, my good friend from the U.S. 

Senate, Senator Cardin, if he would make opening remarks. 


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HON. BENJAMIN CARDIN, CHAIRMAN, 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. CARDIN. Well, to Congressman Hastings: First let me thank 

you for arranging the Mediterranean Partners meeting here in 

Washington. It was an extremely important opportunity for our 

partners to get together and exchange their views. I also want to 

thank you for chairing today’s hearing as wein the U.S. Helsinki 

Commission look at the Mediterranean Partners and ways in which 

we can enhance our effectiveness within OSCE. 

Let me apologize from the beginning that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be meeting shortly with the prime minister 

of Iraq so I’m going to have to excuse myself to attend that meeting. But engagement with our colleagues representing the OSCE 

Mediterranean Partner countries has been a particular focus of the 

OSCE parliamentary assembly for many years as evidenced by the 

work of its successive special representatives on Mediterranean affairs and the assembly’s annual Mediterranean seminars, which 

are a critical part of the agenda of the assembly’s fall meetings. 

We and our Mediterranean Partners have paid particular attention to the issues of security and economic cooperation. In 2002, the 

parliamentary assembly convened its first conference dedicated to 

ensuring peace, democracy and prosperity in the Mediterranean region. Since 1993, security, trade and economic cooperation have 

been the subjects of debate during the assembly’s annual sessions 

and have been addressed in the final declarations of those meetings. 

Most recently, the Vilnius Declaration ratified at the conclusion 

of the parliamentary assembly’s annual meeting this month in 

Lithuania includes a resolution on Mediterranean free trade authored by our good friend Senator Jerry Grafstein of Canada. This 

resolution calls for the creation of the Mediterranean Economic 

Commission with the mandate to reduce trade barriers and facilitate the transition to a knowledge-based economy in the countries 

of the region. It also recommends the creation of a Mediterranean 

agricultural marketing board with the aim of creating jobs in the 

agriculture sector for young people, which could be a valuable part 

of the security in that region. 

During my service as chair of the parliamentary assembly’s committee on economic affairs, science, technology and environment, 

the committee also focused on trade and economic cooperation in 

the Mediterranean region. As many of you may recall, during the 

2005 annual session of the parliamentary assembly in Washington, 

D.C., our committee hosted a panel discussion on developing trade 

and economic cooperation with our Mediterranean partners, which 

featured an address by the ambassador of Morocco to the United 

States. The Washington declaration adopted at the conclusion of 

the 2005 annual session contained a resolution addressing both soft 

and hard threats to security, enhancing economic cooperation, dealing with the challenges of migration and promoting tolerance in the 

Mediterranean region. 

So as you can see, within the OSCE and within the OSCE parliamentary assembly, we’ve made significant progress in advancing 

the interests of our Mediterranean partners within the context of 


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the commitments within OSCE. What I have urged is taking a look 

at how we can further that process. 

It’s interesting, Mr. Chairman, that the commission held a hearing in 1993, the U.S. Helsinki Commission. At that time, we looked 

at creating an OSCME, an Organization for Security and Cooperation in the Middle East because we thought that the Helsinki process was so valuable that the direct adoption of that process by the 

countries within the Middle East could have direct benefit as it had 

within Europe. 

So we suggested that. I do recall we heard from, Abba Eban, the 

former foreign affairs minister of Israel. We also heard from the 

distinguished ambassador from Egypt, Ahmed Maher, el-Sahad, at 

that time, both favorable towards the concept. I have since travelled to the region many times and have talked to the leaders of 

the countries in the region. They all think that this makes great 

sense so—and I think we have one or two options that I really do 

encourage the witnesses today to comment on this. 

We could try to strengthen the role of the Mediterranean Partners in the countries within the region within the OSCE framework. We could look at a separate framework, which incorporates 

similar ideas although there’s no cookie-cutter approach. I know we 

have to tailor it towards specific needs of the region. But I do 

think, looking at the historic problems in the Mediterranean and 

in the Middle East, that using the experience since 1975 with what 

we’ve been able to do in CSCE gives us hope that we could make 

further advancements in this area. And I look forward to the witnesses today and I hope that we’ll be able to continue to make 

progress in promoting peace, security and economic well-being 

within the Mediterranean area. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, Senator. I’d also like to 

recognize the secretary general of the parliamentary assembly of 

OSCE, Spencer Oliver, who has joined us as well. I now turn to 

Congressman McIntyre for any statement you may wish to make, 

Mike. 

HON. MIKE MCINTYRE, COMMISSIONER, 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. MCINTYRE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ll simply say, in the 

interest of time, we do welcome our friends who have joined us. We 

especially appreciate your leadership, Mr. Chairman, in working 

with our Mediterranean partners. I know a couple of years ago it 

was my pleasure when we were in Vienna together to go to a special reception for our Mediterranean partners and how pleased we 

are to see these types of relationships growing and continuing and 

being enhanced. And we’re so glad to have you as well as others 

who are here from the OSCE to join us here in our nation’s capital. 

Thank you. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Just like the partner states participate in the 

OSCE, our CSCE has by now designated an auxiliary group but a 

very active member of the American delegation when we attend the 

fore of the parliamentary assembly is Gwen Moore from Wisconsin, 

my colleague. Gwen. 


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HON. GWEN MOORE, A MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM THE 

STATE OF WISCONSIN 

Ms. MOORE. Thank you so much. I am so grateful that we have 

this opportunity to meet with our Mediterranean partners. I think 

that the urgency of developing these dialogues among parliamentarians and at NATO, the European Union and OSCE is really 

trumped by the patience that our past presidents and others have 

shown and our partners have shown in coming to the United 

States. We welcome you here and I am anxious to hear the testimony of our panels. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, our congresswoman. We’ll 

hold just one minute for Commissioner Darrell Issa if he has any 

statement that he may wish to make. Come over here, Darrell. 

HON. DARRELL ISSA, COMMISSIONER, 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. ISSA. Chairman, I waive any opening statement considering 

my arrival. 

Mr. HASTINGS. All right. Thank you so much, Congressman—that 

allows us to get to the first panel. And we are joined by Ambassador William Hudson, the acting deputy assistant secretary for 

Near Eastern Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. Ambassador 

Hudson has extensive experience in the region as a senior career 

Foreign Service officer and recently, ambassador of the United 

States to Tunisia where I had the good fortune of visiting Tunisia 

when he was ambassador and was hosted extremely well by he and 

the extraordinarily capable staff at the United States Embassy. 

The ambassador’s curriculum vitae is outside. I won’t go into all 

the details. And so ambassador, you have the floor. 

WILLIAM HUDSON, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR 

NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Mr. HUDSON. Thank you very much. Distinguished chairman, 

members of the commission, I want to thank you for calling this 

important hearing and for providing us an opportunity to participate in this exchange on engagement of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe with our Mediterranean partners. 

I also welcome the interest of our partners in participating in this 

forum with members of the United States Congress on an issue 

that is vital to many of our shared interests. 

The OSCE’s special relationship with the six Mediterranean 

Partners for Cooperation goes back to the start of the Helsinki 

process. In 1975, the Helsinki final act included a Mediterranean 

chapter emphasizing the close links between the security of Europe 

and the security in the Mediterranean region. This security link 

has been underscored in subsequent OSCE documents such as the 

1999 charter for European security and the 2003 strategy to address threats to security and stability in the 21st century. The 

OSCE participating states have committed themselves to exploring 

new avenues of cooperation and interaction as well as to explaining 

the scope of broad exchanges on OSCE norms, principles and commitments. 

Through ongoing dialogue and joint activities with the Mediterranean partners, the OSCE has successfully shared its unique, comVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Aug 04, 2015 Jkt 075196 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\A196.XXX A196

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prehensive, three-dimensional approach to security with the Mediterranean partners on a number of topics including confidence and 

security-building measures, OSCE as a platform for dialogue in fostering norms of behavior, the 21st-century threats to security and 

state stability, protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms 

as well as linkages between the environment and security, media 

and new technologies and migration and integration policies. 

The annual OSCE Mediterranean conferences, which are usually 

hosted by the partner state, provide the opportunity to exchange 

views and contribute to further developing the relationship between the OSCE and the Mediterranean partners. The conferences 

are also attended by international organizations, parliamentarians, 

academics and importantly, NGOs, leading to a unique cross-fertilization of ideas and recommendations. 

In fact, a number of very interesting recommendations came out 

of the 2008 conference in Amman, Jordan, including suggestions to 

promote closer involvement of civil society in counterterrorism efforts to address climate change and desertification through regional 

cooperation and to support the creation of civil society networks in 

the Mediterranean region. The United States is very interested in 

following up on these and other recommendations. 

Mediterranean partners have many opportunities to get involved 

in the work of the OSCE. In addition to attending and participating in a wide range of OSCE meetings and conferences, they are 

also invited to send observers to electoral missions of the Office for 

Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, who have received 

training in Warsaw to that end. Thanks to the OSCE’s partnership 

fund, we now have increased opportunities for conducting joint 

projects. The United States already has used this fund to support 

two projects and hopes to be able to contribute to it more in the 

future. 

We are particularly encouraged by a lively discussion at the June 

2009 workshop conducted in Vienna on the topic of media. This 

workshop, which was based on a suggestion made by Egypt, 

brought together more than 35 experts from the OSCE and the 

Mediterranean regions to discuss challenges and best practices in 

setting up and promoting mechanisms to encourage free speech. 

Such exchanges provide us with an opportunity to learn and work 

together to foster security and stability in our countries. 

The United States is interested in increasing cooperation with 

the Mediterranean partners in all three OSCE dimensions and in 

hearing Mediterranean perspectives on broader issues as well. We 

sincerely look forward to engaging with our partners on issues such 

as their approach to the reintegration of Iraq into the community 

of nations and to ways to resolve tensions over oil and gas supply 

and demand issues in Eastern Europe. 

The Mediterranean Partner countries are at the crossroads of 

Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Their historical and existing 

ties with other regions have distinctively positioned them to play 

a key role on issues ranging from regional conflicts such as Chad 

and Sudan to Middle East peace, migration, terrorism and more. 

The Mediterranean Partners have played a positive role in both the 

regional and the world arena and have the potential to make an 

even greater contribution. We believe the onset of a new U.S. adVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Aug 04, 2015 Jkt 075196 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\A196.XXX A196

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ministration offers a new chance to engage in the OSCE partnership and to intensify and reinforce our relationships in this critical 

area. 

The Obama administration has shown its willingness to listen 

and to think critically about the United States foreign policy priorities and objectives. In President Obama’s June 4th speech in 

Cairo, he said that he had come to seek a new beginning between 

the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on 

mutual interest and mutual respect. We have seen a promising 

start to the new administration’s engagement with the Mediterranean. Secretary Clinton met with the foreign ministers of Algeria, 

Morocco, Tunisia on the margins of the Gaza Reconstruction Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh in March. 

She used that opportunity to discuss regional cooperation and 

other concerns of mutual interest. Special envoy for Middle East 

peace, Senator Mitchell, subsequently visited the region to solicit 

their ideas and support for peace. We continue to look for opportunities to engage our North African partners bilaterally and regionally on a wide range of issues, including migration, terrorism economic cooperation and regional security. 

In doing this, we are committed to working with the OSCE via 

the Mediterranean Partners as well as other multilateral fora arrangements, to ensure that our efforts with the countries of the region are consistent and mutually reinforcing. The OSCE participating states and the Mediterranean Partners should work together productively to confront the challenges at hand, and promote security, stability, and individual freedoms throughout the region and throughout the world. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and I’m happy to 

take any questions that you may have. 

Mr. HASTINGS. I’ll turn the questioning now to Chairman Cardin. 

Mr. CARDIN. I thank you for that courtesy. Let me if I might, secretary, just cover a couple points. The OSCE, has had an incredible 

amount of success considering it’s a consensus body, depends upon 

voluntary compliance, basically, yet has rather strong commitments 

as far as human rights, security and economic and environmental 

commitments. 

When we take a look at what it’s been able to accomplish in 

avoiding conflicts through its missions; when we look at the technical assistance that’s made available to member states whether it 

deals with migration or it deals with border security—and the list 

goes on and on and on—when you take a look at the progress that 

it has made on basic freedoms including journalism and making 

sure that we put a spotlight where countries are not doing, what 

they should be doing and now taking on the issues of the Internet 

and what we need to do about Internet freedom of expression. 

And then you take a look at some of the initiatives of the United 

States commission on trafficking in persons and anti-Semitism and 

anti-Muslim activities and the fact that we can bring consensus 

among all states to an action plan in these areas where I think it 

initially people thought that would not be possible. 

I mention that all because I really do believe this model can work 

in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. And I guess my question to you—it seems to me the Mediterranean partners have been 


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a very valuable addition to the proud record of the OSCE. But we 

should perhaps look at either expanding that model or a separate 

model for the Middle East particularly. 

One option could be to strengthen the roles of our partners in the 

OSCE itself. Give them a stronger voice within the OSCE. Another 

suggestion could be to expand the number of country states that 

are partners within the OSCE. I have personally thought that 

Pakistan—partner in Asia acknowledged—it would be nice to have 

them in our organization particularly since we do have Afghanistan 

currently as a partner. 

Or we could look at a separate organization using the OSCE as 

a model but that takes time in order to go through all the diplomatic hurdles in order to achieve a different organization. So I 

would just like to get your view as to how you see the future from 

the point of view of either strengthening the OSCE—looking at separate organizations or do you think that the dynamics in the Middle East are such that it would be difficult to have a consensus organization with the type of record that we’ve seen within OSCE? 

Mr. HUDSON. Thank you for that question. The OSCE is a very 

interesting organization because as it brings together the Israelis 

with the Jordanians and the countries of the Maghreb, they go to 

meetings together. They have an opportunity to see each other face 

to face. It’s a very positive forum for doing that kind of thing. 

Anything we can do to push forward on dialogue and participation in that regard would be a good thing. And this is a personal 

view, and I can give you a more official answer, if you like—but 

my own view is a consensus, an organization that works on consensus, would find some of the problems in the Middle East, particularly issues on the peace process challenging and problematic 

to deal with. 

Mr. CARDIN. I just want to point out, I’ll never forget the discussion I had with former Prime Minister Rabin in Jerusalem on this 

subject. And I sort of said the same thing to him. I said, how would 

you like to be a member of an organization where there are numerous Arab states and Israel? And he said he welcomed that. 

He says if we have a chance to talk, if we can sit at the same 

table together and better understand each other and if we can 

make progress on economic issues and if we can make progress on 

basic rights and bringing down trade barriers and making that 

type of progress—and if our people can get to know each other better, the rest will come. 

I don’t think anyone expects that this process will produce the 

peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis. That’s going to 

happen, we hope, as a result of direct negotiations with significant 

international interest. We understand that. But as far as an ongoing relationship in the Middle East, one day we hope we’ll see 

peace in that region. But for prosperity and economics and human 

rights and security to really take hold, there’s got to be some more 

permanency in the relationships. 

And that’s why the former prime minister thought this made 

sense. By the way, King Hussein of Jordan felt the same way when 

I met with him. So I know there are new leaders but they seem 

to be saying the same thing. And I just wonder if the United States 

should be more actively involved on parallel tracks, not the subVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Aug 04, 2015 Jkt 075196 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\A196.XXX A196

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stitute the peace initiative, not to substitute the initiatives that are 

currently underway. But on a parallel track to try to figure out 

how we can really get more direct communications on basic OSCE 

principles among the countries in the region. 

Mr. HUDSON. Thank you for that. As you know, President Obama 

has emphasized our willingness to have dialogue with mutual respect among all of our friends and allies overseas. I think our position should be that we would encourage any kind of regional organization that can bring Israelis together with their Arab neighbors 

for discussion and addressing mutual problems that all those countries have. 

Mr. CARDIN. I’ll just make one last point on this. It was pointed 

out yesterday by Mr. Lennmarker about the historic problems within Europe as to why the OSCE came about, because of the conflicts 

within that continent being unparalleled in the history of the 

world. 

The differences among the Arab states in the Middle East are 

dramatic. It’s not just Israel versus the Arab states; there are historic conflicts among our partner countries that I would think the 

pattern of OSCE and the progress that was made in OSCE contributing to the overall stability in Europe could be extremely helpful 

in leading us to a much more stable Middle East. 

I would just encourage the United States and all of our member 

countries to look at what has happened since 1975 in Europe and 

use that as an example of what we can achieve particularly in the 

Middle East. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, Chairman Cardin. I’d like 

to take cognizance of the fact we’ve got a round of questions for everybody but we’ve been joined by our commissioner Robert Aderholt 

who was just elected as the vice chair of one of the committees of 

the parliamentary assembly, and I’m very pleased that that occurred. 

Ambassador Hudson, you mentioned a partnership fund, OSCE 

partnership fund, and you cited to the fact that the United States 

has already accessed our two projects. I’m interested in two 

things—what are those projects and what do we intend, in the 

United States to do, to ensure that we are plus up the partnership 

fund? 

Mr. HUDSON. Thank you. The two projects involved bringing people from Mediterranean Partner countries up to Warsaw for training on human rights issues. And we consider the partnership fund 

to be a very positive development. It allows us to, as I said, to develop projects where we can bring some of the Mediterranean Partner countries, individuals in those countries, up to important seminars, important training sessions. So we’re very supportive of this. 

I can take the question sir if you’d like on what our future funding would be and get back to you. 

Mr. HASTINGS. All right. If you would then, I’ll have one other 

question in this round. As I indicated to you we’ve concluded two 

days of seminars with a robust delegations from our partner states. 

The continuing theme or consistent theme that arose was the difficulty of negotiating the multiple dialogues led by different actors 

in the region and principally the OSCE and the European Union 

and NATO. My question would be what roles do you think for our 


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Mediterranean dimensions of these various entities should play to 

encourage synergy among their various activities. 

As I listened over the course of the last two days, ambassador, 

I can’t help but agree with all of the sentiment that was expressed 

most sincerely by virtually each delegation that it is very hard to 

keep up with who’s on first and what’s on second. They didn’t put 

it that way, but I’m just putting in the plain old vernacular. 

And in addition to that, if we start with the Barcelona process 

and go all the way through, every—and it was put bluntly by one 

delegation—every time we come up with a new institution or a new 

program we never seem to complete that before we start a new institution or program. So implementing plans—I kept referencing 

Sarkozy. But implementing a plan and trying to keep up with the 

dialogue and the different organizations. What’s your take on that? 

Mr. HUDSON. Well, I sympathize with the delegations who express their concerns to you because when I was ambassador in Tunisia, we had the Barcelona process, we had the neighbors process, 

we had the OSCE process. So I can understand their confusion and 

they have different delegations coming to them all the time with— 

but these delegations are involved in different kinds of processes 

all sort of hitting the same basic issues of political military environment and the economy and human development. 

So all these organizations sort of have the same focus. It would 

be nice to find a way—I don’t personally have an idea of how this 

could be—but you’ve hit on a very important coordinating problem 

that we have in that region that needs to be addressed in some 

way. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Well, one thing that I’ll just float that my luncheon guests were discussing was the possibility of having a first 

among equals type structure that would have say two members 

from the European Union, two from OSCE, two from NATO and 

two from each of the member states to assist as transmitters and 

receivers for coordination and collaboration. 

Otherwise, clearly what winds up is a lot of duplication and at 

some point we reach diminishing returns because our partner 

states lose interest because they can’t quite keep up with who it 

is that they’re dealing with. I won’t belabor it because we have so 

many of my other colleagues that I would hope would go forward. 

I’m just taking them in the order that they came, and Mr. McIntyre. 

Mr. MCINTYRE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you again 

for this time today. When we think about the Helsinki Commission’s recent seminar that we had parliamentarians and dignitaries 

from throughout the OSCE Mediterranean Partners, one consistent 

thing that was raised was a difficulty of negotiating the multiple 

dialogues led by different actors. When we look at the European 

Union, we look at NATO and of course OSCE, what do you think 

the Mediterranean dimensions of these various entities should play 

to encourage the synergy among these various activities? 

Mr. HUDSON. Well, that gets at the issue that Congressman Hastings brought up which is sort of a fatigue in some of these Mediterranean Partner countries because they have so many people 

coming to them all the time. They’ll have a NATO delegation, 

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ponent—how that is coordinated—it’s an important issue which I 

think has to be addressed by the international community and particularly by the member states in the OSCE and the member states 

of NATO and the EU. 

I don’t have a good resolution on that but I would say we would 

encourage, our policy would be to encourage the dialogue in that 

regard so that we could coordinate all these efforts in that region 

so that they would all be more effective. 

Mr. CARDIN. All right. Thank you, thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Ms. MOORE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you ambassador for your sage testimony. Not to be redundant—I was wondering, you mentioned a great many important issues that are of 

interest to the United States and certainly to the OSCE: the reentry of Iraq into the community of nations; the apportionment and 

availability of oil and gas; Gaza reconstruction—certainly you mentioned that the Mediterranean Partners were at the crossroads of 

the world. 

I am wondering, in view of the fatigue that you just mentioned 

of all this interaction with the European Union and NATO, do you 

have any specific recommendations for OSCE in sort of drilling 

down on any been focusing in or honing in on one of these issues 

that we could be particularly helpful with? 

Mr. HUDSON. Thank you. I don’t have an answer for you today, 

but I would like to take this issue back to the Department of State 

because it is clearly very important and to give you an answer 

about a strategy that we might follow to address this important 

issue. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ambassador, you are either 

very fortunate or you’ve managed to simply end up in what has 

historically been the hot seat. The deputy assistant secretaries for 

Near East inevitably have a war or some humanitarian crisis during their tenure, no matter how long or short. Congratulations, you 

haven’t had one yet. 

But to that end, and Congresswoman Moore said it pretty well 

when she talked about Gaza reconstruction, there are some residual effects that are on your watch: the landmine issues, the cluster 

bomb issues in Lebanon, the lingering effects of the takeover by 

Hamas of Gaza and the inability to reengage on some peer-to-peer 

level between the Palestinians and the Israelis. 

This organization is dedicated to human rights; it’s dedicated to 

democracies that represent their people. We function under the 

rule of law and for their people. So it’s a particular frustration 

when I look throughout North Africa and around the Levant that 

there’s more work to do there than in the countries that we presently are engaged with. 

Your point was very good and you’re absolutely right. Normally 

we can’t even bring the Israelis and the Palestinians together because one insists on being a nation and then insists that the other 

not be present. 

Two, we have the obvious challenge that if there were consensus 

possible; A, they wouldn’t need us; and, B, it wouldn’t be where we 

always are putting so much of our energy. But having said that, 

how can this organization bring these disparate groups on a consistent basis into a relationship where they can see how the rest 


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of our system works and be not studied by us from the outside, 

even though they can’t be full members on the inside at the present 

time. What would you suggest that we begin exploring if we’re 

going to work with you as partners? 

Mr. HUDSON. We have a real opportunity now with the partnership fund and what we need, in my view is—we have a mechanism 

which brings together the Israelis and their near neighbors, Jordan, other Arab states as I’m sure you’re aware—Tunisia has always been very active in the peace process as has Morocco. 

Mr. ISSA. I’m not sure I would be as diplomatic as you. They’ve 

always insisted on having a role, a seat at the table and particular 

cuts of the pie, but please. 

Mr. HUDSON. The OSCE presents a mechanism that’s already 

there to bring these countries together to discuss issues of mutual 

concern and interest. That is where the real value added is—instead of talking about very, very difficult issues that we confront 

in the Middle East peace process, this organization can start talking about the environment and the economy. There are lots of interesting issues there and issues where all the Mediterranean Partner countries have similar interests and concerns. 

So you can start discussions at that level and that often can lead 

to something else when countries suddenly realize that they can cooperate on a certain level of issues that sometimes encourages cooperation above. So we would encourage the bringing these people 

into a process and through the partnership fund we’ll be able to do 

more and more of that. That’s our hope. 

Mr. ISSA. And you mentioned Morocco particularly. Morocco, as 

I’m sure you’re more aware than I, really has the mandate for Jerusalem. Well, Jordan has both historic occupation and a constant 

interest including of course in the Palestinians. Is there a role we 

could play to bring them together from a standpoint of a deteriorating situation both for tourism and for pilgrims in the more less 

tourism, true pilgrim sense, to the holy lands? Is that something 

that you think this group could use as a bridge before we could 

take the next steps and the next steps that we usually go to Sharm 

and talk about? 

Mr. HUDSON. Well, thank you for that. I don’t have an answer 

for you on that today but I’d be happy to take that question and 

come back to you with something on that. I will tell you that Senator Mitchell has been very active with the Moroccans as he begins 

his peace process activities. Historically the Moroccans have been 

very helpful in this regard. 

Mr. ISSA. One last question. When you make your follow-up, if 

you could give us, if you will, the best way—and I know Senator 

Mitchell is doing a good job with shuttle diplomacy, and that’s usually how it works. You go to Morocco, you go to Israel, you go back 

to Morocco and so on. Is there a better dynamic to bring the parties 

together in some sort of a forum that we could potentially facilitate 

some direct dialogue, perhaps even with our special envoy. 

Well, he’s on my list of czars: high title, questionable portfolio, 

but lots of backing from the president. But is there a format that 

you think we could—when you follow up with the answer—kind of 

give it to us because this is an organization that has the staffing 

and the wherewithal to potentially go anywhere in Europe, the 


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Mediterranean and put together something which might bring parties together that up until now will only come together at a summit, and as you know all too well, summits are only after you’ve 

agreed to something that isn’t probably going to accomplish anything but you’ve agreed to it so you’ll sign it. 

And the hope is we’d get people together for the dialogue you 

spoke of. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much. 

HON. ROBERT ADERHOLT, COMMISSIONER, 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. ADERHOLT. Thank you, sir. I don’t have anything right now. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, Mr. Aderholt. Ambassador, 

I genuinely appreciate your time and the State Department participating with us. I am sure you took notes, but I will make it a point 

to as our staff to see to it that you do have the follow up questions. 

One of the things that we like to do is to post on our Web site the 

particulars of hearings and briefings that we’ve had. 

So the follow up is important to us and we thank you so very 

much, and as always it’s good to see you. 

We can now ask our second panel if they would join us. Professor 

Sotiris Roussos of the University of Peloponnese in Corinth, 

Greece. Professor Roussos and I share a similar mandate in his 

role as personal representative to the Greek chair in office of the 

OSCE for Mediterranean partners. And we are also going to be 

joined on our second panel by my good friend, the honorable Joa ̃o 

Soares, the president of the OSCE parliamentary assembly who is 

the former mayor of one of my favorite cities, Lisbon, the capital 

of Portugal. 

Since we call you up first, professor, we’ll begin with you. 

SOTIRIS ROUSSOS, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE ON 

MEDITERRANEAN PARTNER AFFAIRS, OSCE 

Mr. ROUSSOS. Thank you very much. It is great honor and pleasure to attend and witness to this hearing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and to share views on how we 

can work together in order to make the Mediterranean Partnership 

of the OSCE even more effective by enhancing its potentials and 

fostering the ties between the organization and our common Mediterranean neighborhood. 

In this regard, Greece as an OSCE participating state of the 

Mediterranean attaches great importance to the strengthening of 

relations with our Mediterranean partners and to the promotion of 

their engagement with the OSCE activities and mechanisms. 

My appointment is underlining the strong will of the Greek 

chairmanship to further upgrade these ties as it emerges the strategic importance of the region for the Euro-Atlantic security. I 

would like last to share some reflections and to present some ideas 

to be thought upon by the partners honoring on our contribution 

on the triptych of synergy, symmetry and strategy. 

Our times are marked by the most profound technical revolution 

in global communications which transcends national cultural 

boundaries. International partners of mass consumption with global brand names have become symbolic. Market-oriented reforms 


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and improvements in the business and investment climate are facilitating these changes all through the past decade. 

In the Mediterranean, the role of the market forces in the private 

sector of the economy is expanding although sometimes it seems 

not so much. Governments are privatizing state-owned corporations 

and the banking, telecommunications and utilities sections. Trade 

systems are opening and restrictions on foreign exchange transactions are being eased. 

Moreover, in response to these changes, development indicators 

are beginning to improve, especially in the past decade: Extreme 

poverty, people living on less than $1 per day fell by 20 percent by 

2000 and 2004. Over the past 15 years, life expectancy has increased in the region from 60 to 70 years, while the total fertility 

rate has fallen by 1.8 births per woman, the largest decline of any 

region in the world. 

Nearly 90 percent of children completed primary education in 

2005, up from 77 percent in 1990. About 90 percent of the population now has access to electricity and improved water resources. 

Additionally, the enormous explosion in tourism, travel, commerce, international media and the translation publishing industries arrive at impressive cross-cultural transactions and nexuses. 

Side by side with this cultural globalization we have the most 

xenophobic and, in total, manifestations of narrow-minded nationalists and religious revivals. 

According to a study by the joint project of the Dubai School of 

Government at the Wilson Center for Development at Brookings, 

although there was an economic revival between 2002 and 2008, 

however there were also other results. The same study points out 

that the situation seems more complicated since education is not a 

guarantee against unemployment in the Middle East. 

In fact, unemployed rates in some countries are higher among 

those youth with relatively high levels of educational attainment. 

In Egypt, for example, the unemployment of university graduates 

reaches 25 percent whereas amongst illiterates and those of intermediate education is five and 10 percent respectively. 

The same more or less tendencies can be traced in Jordan and 

Lebanon. Furthermore, employment prospects for youth in urban 

areas remain particularly bleak; nearly 76 percent of unemployed 

Moroccan youth live in urban areas. 

Urban unemployment nearly doubled between 1982 and 2000, 

rising from 12 to 22 percent. About 60 to 70 percent of the youth 

in Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere thought this is a bad time, a bad 

period, for seeking a job in the Mediterranean and perhaps this is 

the beginning of thinking of migration as a serious alternative. 

In both banks of the Mediterranean—not only the south, also in 

the north bank of the Mediterranean, in our countries—much higher education produces instead of conditions of prosperity, a 

proletarized, impoverished intelligentsia deprived and resentful, directing its resentment against the elites as well as the other—in 

the face of the migrant, of the different which as seen as the agent 

of invasion, cultural and economic. 

But the most startling effect of mass education is the collapse of 

earlier hierarchical notions of religious authority based on claims 


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to demonstrate of fixed bodies of religious texts, even in countries 

with state-appointed religious authorities. 

The erosion of traditional religious authorities allows a wider debate on religion and science, democracy, modernity, gender, religious and ideological tolerance. The same absence of authority 

gives, however, the opportunity to radical and terrorist networks— 

personalities and institutions to hijack religious discourse and 

fastly undertake the role of champion of the true believers around 

the world. 

Mediterranean societies have been saved through a large extent 

by a complex cultural and social texture created by the combination 

of elements of modernity and tradition. Moreover, identities in the 

Mediterranean have been and are still being saved through the 

construction of separate bodies of knowledge. And intercultural dialogue should be brave enough to discuss recent changes in the 

makeup, activity and the strategy of religious movements in Islam. 

It’s attack the role of migration communities in shaping an intercultural dialogue in the Mediterranean and all over the world. 

Such a dialogue should cope with a new process of pluralism and 

multiculturalism emerging in the great seats of Europe and 

through the explore of dynamic interaction between conflict and coexistence in multicultural cities in the Mediterranean and Europe. 

There is a great importance in the role of press and mass media 

in supporting neutral understanding, the role of non-state actors in 

shaping ideological visions that affect state policies in the regions. 

The media have a serious impact of how ethnic national identities 

and social parties influence regional cooperation in the Mediterranean. 

Moreover, the means of information technology and wired society 

combined with mass education are capable of involving Mediterranean people in the discourse and debate about the role of the state 

and non-state actors and thus create an institutional and legal perquisites for the development of the open and interacting Mediterranean civil society. 

The role of gender in the development of such a civil society and 

intercultural dialogue is indispensable, especially the role of women 

as primary socializer for youth and children and the importance of 

women participation in activism in all walks of life. 

Women empowerment can not only increase households’ income 

but they can become a remedy for social dislocation and the most 

useful tool for equitable growth and social cohesion. It should not 

and could not however come as an imported recipe from other parts 

of the world but it should be homegrown, based on genuine social 

forces and the rich cultural tradition of the area. 

Last but not least, the Arab-Israeli conflict and especially the 

Israeli-Palestinian tract influences Mediterranean participation of 

the OSCE a great deal. Of course OSCE framework could not solve 

these issues but it could exploit the momentum given by the U.S. 

leadership initiatives in order to expand the model of Helsinki, to 

expand the culture of dialogue, tolerance, comprehension and 

human rights despite essential political differences. 

At this particular moment, expanding membership of OSCE 

Mediterranean Partnership, especially the case of the Palestinian 

Authority is not simply to add new countries, but to expand a paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Aug 04, 2015 Jkt 075196 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\A196.XXX A196

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digm of confidence building and conflict resolution. Now it is more 

necessary than ever. 

Summarizing through all recent discussions and papers, we can 

discern three main principles: flexibility, visibility, tangible results. 

Flexibility—it is beyond any doubt that flexibility is increasing effectiveness, overcoming sensitivities and various practical obstacles. It has been a well-taken point in both the Egyptian and the 

Moroccan paper that we can concentrate on fewer items. Greece 

and personally the foreign minister Ms. Bakoyannis has worked 

very effectively on women empowerment through local and regional 

entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, an 

issue that combines human dimension and economy. 

Visibility—it is important to increase the visibility of the OSCE 

Mediterranean partnership in the societies of the partners. We also 

believe that a young leaders forum would also provide the partnership with prominent young people in all walks of life. The first 

joint seminar of young diplomats from OSCE Mediterranean partners organized by Greece last year is a case in point. 

Tangible results—concentration on certain issues and cross-dimensional items can produce recommendation and results, which 

might lead to micro-projects funded partly by the fund and partly 

by the Mediterranean governments aiming to promoting the finds 

of the conference of the Mediterranean societies and of the OSCE 

Mediterranean partnership. 

Last, I’d like to share a personal reflection. Our Mediterranean 

basing can provide us with materials of dual use. We can use them 

to erect walls of division but with the same materials, build bridges 

of understanding. We all opt for the latter. Thank you very much. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, professor. I now have the 

distinct honor of asking my very good friend, the president of the 

parliamentary assembly to give us his reflections, which I’m sure 

will be inspired by the two days of activities such that with his capabilities he probably will summarize for us all what we have done. 

Joa ̃o. 

JOA ̃ O SOARES, PRESIDENT, OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY 

Mr. SOARES. Thank you, dear chairman, for this opportunity. My 

first words are to greet you, Congressman Alcee Hastings and Senator Ben Cardin and all your colleagues from the Helsinki Commission, for this initiative. This seminar that took place until late in 

the morning today from the beginning of the morning of yesterday 

was a great moment—a great political moment. It was very important for us to have this possibility of discussing with our Mediterranean partners at this eye level and that’s an initiative that 

has an author and you are the author of this initiative. And I have, 

as president of the parliamentary assembly, to thank you very sincerely and to greet also our good friend and your colleague, Senator 

Ben Cardin, for the work you have done. 

That we have—as far as international relations are concerned— 

we have in our hands one of the best international tools that exists, 

if not the best: the OSCE and of course, its parliamentary assembly. The OSCE has proven along the 30 years of its lifetime that 

it can deal with any difficult situation and it has dealt in Central 

Asia, in the Caucasus, in the Balkans—everywhere from Vancouver 


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to Vladivostok. You know it better than anybody because you have 

been a very good president of our parliamentary assembly like our 

president emeritus who is here—Go ̈ran Lennmarker—you already 

quoted. 

I strongly, personally believe that we have in our hands one of 

the best political, international instruments that has shown during 

the 30 years of existence its flexibility, its capacity to adapting to 

different situations and the capacity to deal with difficult challenges even in moments of war. We have proved it. 

And last September, when, during our Mediterranean fall meeting in Toronto, we had the most wide discussion that occurred 

about the Caucasuses—south Caucasuses and war between Georgia 

and Russia. And the main problem for us and you gave—you, Helsinki Commission and you, personally, Ben Cardin and Alcee Hastings, gave us a great contribution to make our partner states from 

the Mediterranean believe that this is the good instrument to deal 

with the difficulties we have in our future. We have no other so 

good international institution including United Nations. This is the 

most effective. 

But of course, we have problems and you’ve touched them when 

you made your questions to the ambassador from the Department 

of State that was here. There are too many institutions trying to 

deal with the Mediterranean problems. And so, there has to be— 

and I agree completely with the suggestion you made and the suggestion that was made to us by our secretary general Spencer Oliver—there has to be coordination. 

And you, as a very dynamic special representative of the parliamentary assembly for the Mediterranean and the nice work that 

we have done here thanks to you here in Washington, you are in 

the best position to reach this coordination between all these institutions—NATO, Mediterranean parliamentary assemblies, all the 

other institutions that deal with the Mediterranean—without going 

so far as we go overseas and as we can go because we have proved 

it. 

We have just proved it here in Washington but we have proved 

anywhere else. And it’s very good that our Moroccan colleagues 

that were in now a seminar proposed to have in Morocco one seminar, an international conference on the framework of the OSCE 

and the OSCE parliamentary assembly about the water, which is 

one of the main problems. And I’m very glad because we have here 

and since a long time ago, we hadn’t the opportunity of having 

Israeli parliamentarians, Egyptian parliamentarians, Jordanian 

parliamentarians and some other Arabic countries’ parliamentarians discussing in a civilized manner with each other about the difficulties of the deals and the challenges that we have in the future. 

And that—for me, it’s very important. I agree completely with 

the quotation that our good colleague and friend Ben Cardin made 

of ex-Prime Minister Rabin. We should have, in the OSCE and in 

the framework of the parliamentary assembly, the representatives 

of the Palestinian Authority for the reasons that Rabin gave to Ben 

Cardin when they talked in Jerusalem about Israel entering the 

OSCE and entering the parliamentary assembly. 

We have a big opportunity as our Greek friend said to us, the 

changes that came with the new American administration and the 


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new spirit that you, Ben Cardin, and especially President Obama 

represent for all of us give us hope—a great hope and a great expectation. I don’t remember, since the last 50 years of my life, any 

time where there was so much hope concentrated in so few people. 

And I’m sure you are going to stand for this opportunity—that it’s 

an opportunity for the United States and it’s an opportunity for all 

of us. And of course, we have now a very good chairmanship. 

We have to recognize that—Dora Bakoyannis and his team of 

Greek diplomats and Greek politicians are making a great work 

and with a great dynamic. And that the last in former council of 

ministers made a new spirit and the new approach and I am sure 

that our fall meeting that will take place in Athens and the council 

of ministers that will take place in Athens until the end of this 

year will represent new possibilities in approaching the complete 

questions because I remember our Egyptian colleagues that were 

there so experienced parliamentarians and diplomats that were always pushing us to look at the concrete matters, not only to the 

beautiful resolutions. 

And I know that you are also a man of the complete, Congressman Alcee Hastings: my master and my friend and my teacher— 

and that’s very important. That’s very important—to be people of 

the complete and that one of the most important added values that 

we can bring to these difficult matters because there are no miracle 

solutions for the conflict of the Middle East between Israel and Palestine and between Israel and the Arab states. 

But there are approaches that could be done and if we think— 

and the opportunities that we’ve lost thanks to some European authorities at the time and the previous American administration 

with the Iraq war and with this terrible error that was committed—and if we think that all the resources that we spent—we 

together spent, unfortunately—in the decision taken in my home 

country soil unfortunately, I’m ashamed for it. But if these resources had been used—human and financial—had been used in 

the problems in the Middle East and in the conflict of the Middle 

East, Gaza strike would not be like that. This would not be like 

that and Lebanon would not be like that. 

And I have a great hope and what I can assure you is that you 

can count with the experience of the parliamentarians. You are 

very well-placed to know that I have the greatest respect for diplomats and for other civil servants but the experience that we have 

of fighting in elections, fighting for our own ideas and our own 

ideals and being defeated sometimes and winning others—it’s the 

most important added value that we can give. And I am sure that 

there is a new spirit as far as the Mediterranean cooperation is 

concerned after this Washington meeting and seminar. Thank you, 

Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, Mr. President. We’ll turn 

to my colleagues if they have any questions but I’d like to take a 

moment of personal privilege. I have a constituent that came in the 

room and Alkia Lagerwal though that perhaps I didn’t see him 

back there when he slid back on the wall. That’s one of my constituents from south Florida and I’m glad to see you, young man. 

And tell your dad I said hello in case I don’t get a chance to talk 

to you. Mr. Aderholt, do you have any questions? 


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Mr. ADERHOLT. I would like to ask our first panelist if—you had 

mentioned something that sort of piqued my interest there about— 

you were talking about the young leaders conference and the young 

leaders involvement in that. Could you expand on that a little bit 

and how that’s currently going and what the situation is and what 

you foresee coming out of that? 

Mr. ROUSSOS. Thank you very much for your question. It’s a very 

critical one. To help preparing and lead, to help prepare leaders 

that can expand the cultural of the OSCE because OSCE’s moves 

foremost by—it’s a matter of culture of guidelines, culture of dialogue. So we have to help preparing a leadership—young leadership—that is abiding by this culture. 

And one step is the young diplomats joint seminar. It’s a seminar 

by young diplomats from the OSCE Mediterranean partners who 

are coming together in Athens and in Vienna. So there is an environment between all these, young diplomats who are going to, 

struggle against its others perhaps in various forum to help understand each other and to share perhaps some common interests and 

also transplant—in a way, transfer—this shared interest, this 

shared culture to their society. 

We can actually do the same with other groups of leaders. We 

can do it with young entrepreneurs. We can do it with young 

women leaders. We have done very interesting—actually last year 

in Greece, we had a seminar on women entrepreneurship and we 

have seen a great interest by young women entrepreneurs from the 

region. So we can expand on this. And not only that—we can also 

exploit new technology because we have a big discussion today 

about the use of new technology, of telecommunications, of computer, of being wired. We can use these potentials in order to create networks. That means these people can communicate to each 

other and create networks around the Mediterranean. 

And also, these projects can—these fora, these groups, these 

meetings can offer tangible results. We can see the results. And we 

do not need big money for this. For example, we talk about this 

partnership fund. Partnership fund is not big money. I mean, it’s 

about half a million euros or so. So this is not big money, for an 

organization of a partnership. But in this kind of targeted initiatives and of this kind of groups, we can have tangible results with 

not so much money. This is what we think about this young leaders’ forum. 

Mr. ADERHOLT. Well, certainly it’s something to be pursued and 

it’s a great idea and I would encourage you to. 

Mr. ROUSSOS. Actually, there is this idea—and again, we came 

back to this—to the coordination. For example, NATO Aspen Institute has such a program of young leaders. We can have a bigger 

one incorporating or coordinating the Aspen Institute, NATO, 

young leaders for the Mediterranean and the young leaders of the 

OSCE and perhaps a young leaders’ forum that is going on in the 

new union for the Mediterranean. So this is one example but we 

can easily coordinate. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Would the gentleman yield just a moment? 

Mr. ADERHOLT. Sure, go ahead. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Earlier today, we had a presentation from the 

German Marshall Fund and they’re moving in that direction as 


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well in dealing with the youth. And I just add that and will provide 

you with that—— 

Mr. ADERHOLT. Yeah, well that’s encouraging to hear. And yeah, 

well, thank you, professor, for your comments on that. I don’t have 

anything else. I just do want to say, again, it’s a great honor to 

have the president of OSCE parliamentary assembly with us and 

thank you for your leadership and it’s good to have you here in 

Washington and before our panel today. Thank you. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Ms. Moore. 

Ms. MOORE. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman and 

thank you so much, Mr. President for the honor of having you here 

in the United States. I apologize for being out of the room. I’m 

working on being in two places at one time—been working on it for 

quite a while. 

But I was happy to hear you speak about soft security issues and 

the need to train and do training and development with younger 

people. I want to focus on something that the Moroccan delegation 

to the OSCE has circulated a vision paper talking about the need 

to engage around the issue of energy and water. I represent a district right on Lake Michigan and of course, the Great Lakes contain 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. And Lake Michigan on 

which my district resides is the only lake that’s totally and completely contained within the United States. And so therefore, we 

have industries—120 industries—that relate to water development. 

We have a university that has an industry, an educational and academic system that is developed around water resources. 

The impact of climate change and the lack of water on Earth is 

going to have a greater impact on women than anyone else as they 

seek to relocate their families. And so I am wondering what we 

could do in establishing a network among these Mediterranean research institutions to work on a dual track, to work on climate 

change and water development but also have that be a way of 

bringing women who are going to endure the greatest hardship 

under the dearth of these resources into these academic opportunities. 

Mr. ROUSSOS. It’s a splendid example of having a multi-dimensional work in the partnership. First of all, water is a security 

issue so it is by all means a security issue. It’s an environmental 

issue and has to do also with the women and children quality of 

life and quality of work. Now, of course there were attempts in the 

1990s by the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, by the Barcelona 

process, by the multilateral tracks to create a network of research 

institutes. But I think that this network has not been so successful, 

not because of the people because of other circumstances—mainly 

political. 

It is a huge opportunity now to use the partnership fund and I 

think—to this direction. And also do something else. And, now, I 

would like to come back to what our chairman said about small 

businesses and micro-banking, micro-lending and women in these 

businesses because around protection of water, around water management, there can be a huge development of micro-business, 

micro-lending led by women. We have seen that; we have seen that 

in Bangladesh, we have seen that with fisheries in Bangladesh run 

by women with the micro-lending by Grameen Bank, which is a 


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success. So we can go on with these examples and we can start 

with the research network and perhaps also thinking about microlending. 

Of course, I have here to make a distinction, to make a note that 

OSCE is not an economic organization. It’s not a financial organization. World Bank or other organizations can do this job better. But 

what OSCE can do is, again, to have the cultural infrastructure, 

to have the culture of dialogue of cooperation and this is the main 

contribution of the OSCE partnership. 

Mr. SOARES. I liked so much the question you put that I wanted 

to add something. I think that we as parliamentarians inside the 

framework of the OSCE are the best place to deal with these kinds 

of issues. And I agree with you. The paper that our Moroccan 

friends came to us—I quoted it in the first speech I made in the 

opening. It was one of the best papers we have here and the fact 

that our Moroccan colleagues took the initiative to go to an international conference about the water means that there is the flexibility and the spirit of the OSCE and especially in the spirit of the 

parliamentary assembly. 

Gender problems—gender equality problems—is one of our main 

goals and our main tasks. And we have done work—I’ve seen it 

with my own eyes after Go ̈ran Lennmarker, after Alcee Hastings, 

I had the pleasure and the honor of being in Central Asia in places 

where there are real problems and where we are facing them and 

not only with the politically correct and the photo opportunity— 

with real work in the field. And sometimes without the networks. 

I was surprised in Central Asia and I spoke this morning about 

it and I simply could establish a corporation with Aga Khan Network because they are dealing with the same goals, with the same 

challenges and they are doing such good work in the model of our 

own work as far as the parliamentary assembly’s concerned. And 

that is something that we should always underline in a proud matter. We have one of the best secretariats in the world because we 

have a small budget, a small secretariat and we make a real work 

from Vancouver to Vladivostok. 

I was very pleased, I have the opportunity to say but all Mediterranean partners came to the last presidential elections in the 

United States to the observing mission in a great number. And 

that means also the attraction that the United States has to our 

Mediterranean partners. But that means also, the quality of the 

work we are doing and I propose for example in the former ministerial council in Corfu the idea of taking good ideas that in other institutions have worked, like the ERASMUS program in the European Union or your program that came from the second World War 

of cooperation in building education for young people coming from 

other countries. But the ERASMUS has made more for the European Union than all the treaties and that is something that should 

be brought inside the OSCE. Excuse me. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Were you going to add one final word there, 

Gwen? 

Ms. MOORE. One final word and the president really said it much 

more eloquently than I could have. And that is—and I just wanted 

to just disagree a little bit with you, Mr. Roussos, to say that it’s 

really hard to disaggregate economic issues from humanitarian 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with HEARING
22 

issues. And here, we’re dealing with it when we look at the gender 

inequity because the status of women is like the canary in the 

coalmine. 

If you can look at the status of women and tell what is going on 

in a country—if women lack economic opportunities, if they are not 

a part of growing the economy, if there are human rights issues 

with including them, the whole economy of the country will suffer 

indeed. So women are going to be critically impacted by climate 

change and water resources. We need to get them involved in education and if we could get our Mediterranean partners to see it as 

an economic issue for their future, it would help us deal with some 

of the human rights and gender issues as well. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, all. 

Ms. MOORE. Right. 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you, professor. Thank you, Mr. President 

and Ms. Moore. I’m sure that President Soares and President-emeritus Lennmarker and my good friend Senator Grafstein and Spencer Oliver, the secretary general, all thought that they would come 

over here and get away from Tona Tensguard but that’s sort of— 

for the persons who don’t know, that’s inside parliamentary assembly baseball but Ms. Tensgard has arrival now on gender issues 

and that Ms. Moore is constantly involved with us. 

Toward that end, we said that we would be here an hour-anda-half and we have been. I’d like to say with Mr. Nagisi al-Hamed, 

if you would or if you can walk with me, I have to go to the Rules 

Committee. It’s been an extraordinarily busy day for all of us. 

We’ve had not only a fruitful hearing here this afternoon but the 

two days of interaction, in my considered opinion, was superb. 

I’d be terribly remiss—the three staffers here on the desk with 

me are persons that were extremely instrumental in causing this 

seminar and hearing to be a success. And I want to take a special 

cognizance of the work of Fred Turner, the staff director that many 

of you have interacted with and continue to do so and I hope will 

as well as Alex Johnson who really was the principal author of 

many of the specifics and the hard work that was undertaken. And 

Marlene Kaufmann who I indicated to you earlier did in fact write 

the resolution that is now law in so far as the House of Representatives is concerned in that it passed unanimously last night. And I 

will get for you a copy of the Congressional Record that has the 

statements of members of Congress, including our good friend 

Chris Smith—when I know you’ve got to go, we are all right—our 

good friend Chris Smith, the ranking member of this organization. 

Also, the fine staffers, interns—all of them that did all of this extraordinary work—I thank you and compliment you so well. It’s 

one of the things that I encourage our partner states as well as the 

participating states to do more of and that is to have more young 

people that are involved as is the case at the secretariat of the parliamentary assembly—interns that go on to become career professionals in a variety of fields dealing with international undertakings. 

President Soares, you mentioned the fact that our partner states 

came in great numbers to the United States elections. I’m not one 

that worries too much about bragging about things that I do. But 

I take full responsibility for asking then-secretary Colin Powell to 


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23 

change the provisions of the United States to allow for election observers to show you how important relationships can be and how 

even though appearances may look from time to time as if persons 

have such serious disagreements that they can’t come to terms and 

do things in a positive way. 

I was in Russia as an election observer and I went out drinking 

vodka with two of my Russian colleagues. And one of them said to 

me in very serious terms—he says this is your third time here in 

Russia observing our elections and I don’t have the privilege of observing yours. I took that to heart and I came back and for a year, 

worked with Secretary Powell who made that change in 2004 and 

for the first time, we had observers. For me, the loop was closed 

in 2008 when the same person that I had drinks with in Russia 

that I had drinks with him in Fort Lauderdale when he came to 

observe our elections. That’s a part of what developing relationships can produce in the way of positive results for all of our countries and that’s why I don’t believe that there are any barriers that 

are incapable of being overcome by humankind. 

But I do believe that institutions, not multiplicity of institutions, 

but institutions are greater than humans when it comes to collective undertakings. And therefore, I agree with my president that 

the Organization for Security and Cooperation and more specifically, its parliamentary assembly, has been a dynamic that has 

been not observed by the overall community here in this country 

as well as in many places in Europe and in the Maghreb and elsewhere. But they are doing and have done extraordinary work. 

The development of the Mediterranean forum actually came from 

a person that I defeated to be president of the parliamentary assembly. The first person that I know that mentioned it was a gentleman that I asked to come but he could not arrange his calendar—is Michele Voissant from France. Followed by a person that 

I’ve had considerable disagreements with and will continue if he 

continues his path however in Albania recently, in spite of our differences, we worked together to assist in making sure that election 

observation went smoothly. 

But the second person that took the lead on this would be Bruce 

George, a parliamentarian from the United Kingdom. And that was 

followed then by my presidency and followed robustly by the presidency of Go ̈ran Lennmarker and even more so in light of the fact 

that he lives even closer to the region than anybody did by nowPresident Soares. That’s how it came about in the first place and 

you can be assured you have four of us that were directly involved 

and have known each other for a very long time and see this as 

vital and critical for stability in the Middle East and for peace and 

prosperity throughout the Maghreb and all of our partner states. 

I thank you all for your attention and for being here with us. 

And I say to the partner states that are still here that it is our intention to work with the new Kazakh chair in office and to continue our efforts to follow up on this seminar. And as I said in the 

meeting, I’m hopeful that all of the six states will host a meeting 

that all of the six countries will attend. Thank you. 

Æ 


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