Speech
Permanent Council No 547 of the OSCE: EU Statement on Uzbekistan

Date of Speech : 10-03-2005

Place : Vienna

Speaker : Jacques Reuter, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg at the OSCE

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

The European Union has taken note of the OSCE/ODIHR report on the parliamentary elections held in Uzbekistan on 26 December 2004 which was issued on 7 March. While the report notes minor improvements in the new Uzbek election law, it confirms serious concerns already brought to the attention of the Permanent Council on 27 December 2004, namely that the elections fell significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections. The implementation of the election legislation by the authorities failed to ensure a pluralistic, competitive and transparent election. The electorate in those elections was not provided with a genuine choice of candidates owing to restrictive provisions regulating the registration and funding of political parties. The European Union is also concerned that principles needed to underpin genuine democratic elections, such as freedom of expression, association and assembly, were not respected. .

The European Union continues to expect Uzbekistan, as an OSCE participating State, to comply with its commitments. We regret that access to the election-related documents and some government officials was denied to the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, contrary to the 1990 Copenhagen document. We endorse the report’s conclusion that significant improvements in the legislative framework are needed for Uzbekistan to be in compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards.

We appreciate working with Uzbekistan on election related issues. We are hopeful that this cooperation will continue to develop. We reiterate our readiness to continue to work with Uzbekistan to promote and implement OSCE values and principles on a basis of mutual trust. 

The Candidate Countries Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia (1) align themselves with this statement.

(1) Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process