OSCE discusses more cooperation in Georgia

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe officials have pledged to increase cooperation for the organization's Georgia security monitoring mission.

Foreign ministers from Spain, Finland, Greece, Kazakhstan and Lithuania who make up the OSCE Quintet holding chairmanships until 2011 met Tuesday in New York. The five officials discussed the ongoing security monitoring role in Georgia's post-conflict breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the OSCE reported.

Attending the meeting was OSCE Chairman in Office Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who met with Miguel Angel Moratinos of Spain, Dora Bakoyannis of Greece, Marat Tazhin of Kazakhstan and Petras Vaitiekunas of Lithuania, among others.

Officials say the discussion centered on ways to strengthen OSCE action in Georgia, including playing a more "active role in the implementation of the cease-fire agreement and in seeking a lasting settlement to the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, coordinating efforts with the United Nations and the European Union," the release said.