John Kerry warns Europe about threats of increasing authoritarianism

HAMBURG, Germany, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned European nations Thursday of the "danger of authoritarian populism."

Kerry spoke at the start of the two-day meeting in Hamburg, Germany, of foreign ministers from the 57-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which includes the United States, European Union nations and former Soviet republics, including Russia.

"Bigotry, repression and the silencing of dissent cannot be the new normal for any of us," he said. "Every chip away at the fundamentals of freedom is actually a ugly building block in the road to tyranny."

Kerry spoke of the "growing corruption in too many countries; the increasing authoritarianism; moves by certain leaders to change constitutions in an effort to consolidate power; false news being spread through new platforms of the media; torture being actually advocated in certain quarters."

He said "these developments are, simply put, a direct assault on the founding principles of the OSCE."

Kerry also urged the OSCE to continue negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014. Russia backs the separtists in eastern Ukraine, a conflict that has resulted in the killing of more than 9,600 people.

He said these situations "have gone on for too long, and at tremendous human cost on both sides of the line of contact."

Before the talks began, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the president of the group, called on Russia to help defuse tensions in Europe and an "immediate humanitarian cease-fire" in Syria.

After the OSCE talks end Friday, Kerry will travel to Paris to participate in a ministerial meeting hosted by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault and co-organized by German and Qatari counterparts.