VIENNA, Jan 10: Russia’s freeze of a Cold War arms control pact threatens European security and it is getting harder to find common ground on security issues, the new head of of Europe’s main democracy and rights watchdog said on Thursday.

Finland’s foreign minister addressed the assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to outline 2008 priorities after a year of tensions over arms control, election monitoring and human rights abuses.

Conflict prevention and crisis management will be the priorities of Finland’s OSCE chairmanship, Ilkka Kanerva said.

Key issues were Russia’s suspension of the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty with Nato states, Kosovo’s thrust for independence from Serbia and frozen conflicts that occasionally flare between regions who were in the old Soviet Union.

“The continuing deadlock ... concerning the CFE poses serious risks to our common security. The CFE remains a cornerstone of European military security,” Kanerva said.

He said OSCE envoys had begun discussions with both sides on how to restore the pact. “We should seek at all costs to avoid an erosion of the treaty regime.”

The CFE limits arms levels either side of the old Iron Curtain. The West regards Russia’s move as another sign of a hard-nosed foreign policy under President Vladimir Putin. Russia said only CFE information exchanges would be affected.

Kanerva, alluding to ex-Soviet republics and some east European states, urged member countries not to pose obstacles to OSCE election monitoring.

He said Russia was among countries who needed to accept such monitoring as a “normal” part of democracy and time was running out for Moscow to invite an OSCE observers mission to prepare for its March presidential election.

The OSCE’s election monitoring arm, which has often judged elections in ex-Soviet republics to be democratically deficient, cancelled a mission for Russia’s December parliamentary election, complaining of obstruction.

“A pessimist would say old ghosts are returning to haunt Europe. New divisions are opening,” Kanerva said.

“It’s increasingly difficult to find common ground on security issues (and so) a pessimist would argue the OSCE has little role to play.”

Kanerva said he remained an optimist, given the increasing inter-dependence of nations in a globalised world. But the OSCE needed “an injection of positive spirit” to shore up its role in helping safeguard democracy and stability in Europe.—Reuters