OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Greek Foreign Minister, Dora Bakoyannis, said on February 19, her country was committed to work to maintain “a meaningful” OSCE presence in Georgia.

Speaking at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly winter session in Vienna, Bakoyannis said that extension of OSCE monitors’ mandate in Georgia was “a sign of good will.”

“But it is only a beginning. Let us build on this – here in Vienna and also in the Geneva Discussions, of which the OSCE is Co-Chair,” she said. “The position of Greece is clear: the current crisis demands that the OSCE should do more in Georgia, not less.”

The OSCE Mission to Georgia itself is in a phase of closure after Russia vetoed extension of the mission mandate, as Moscow insists on a separate mission that would coverer breakaway South Ossetia independently from the Tbilisi office.

Addressing the Russia’s proposal on new European security pact, the Greek Foreign Minister said that “our point of departure must be what we have already achieved.”

“As we consider new initiatives, let us build on the ground that we have cleared already,” she said.