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INTERNATIONAL

Interview with

Dr urban R-tisnak

Ambassador and Secretary General International Energy Charter

outcome the agreement between East and West, to ad-
dress the energy security issues after the fall of the Berlin
War, and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. So the
beginnings of the Energy Charter date back to a political
initiative launched in Europe in the early 1990s.
The original European Energy Charter declaration was
signed in The Hague on 17 December 1991. It was a po-
litical declaration of principles for international energy
including trade, transit and investment, together with
the intention to negotiate a legally binding treaty, setting
the beginning of the development of the Energy Charter
Treaty.
A Secretariat was also set up to accommodate the dia-
logue amongst the contracting parties, and was later
transformed into the Energy Charter Secretariat, man-
dated by the Energy Charter Conference.
The legally binding treaty was signed in Lisbon in De-
cember 1994, together with a Protocol on Energy Effi-
Little did we know about this inter-governmental organisa- ciency and Related Environmental Aspects (PEEREA).
tion, based in Brussels before we met with Dr Urban Ru- The treaty and the protocol came into effect in April 1998.
snak, a former diplomat who is now the Secretary General It provides the rules of the game for these countries and
of this perhaps unknown organisation, but which neverthe- members in the field of protection, investment, promo-
less which plays a very important role in the energy field? So tion, transit issues, for trade, energy efficiency and for
now we will leave the floor to the SG Rusnak, who has just disputes resolution. If there are disputes between coun-
been re-elected for another 5 years term who kindly took tries or actors - industry, other parties- - they can refer
the time to answer all our question. He is a discrete and to the Charter as a basis for meditation, arbitration and
humble man, who does talk much about himself but when conciliation. Multiplied elements for dispute resolution
it comes to the International Energy Charter, his voice talk are found under the Energy Charter Treaty.
about it with passion So Sir, the floor is yours. So the process have had its ups and downs. In 2012
it was decided to start a modernisation exercise. On
Q: First of all Sir, could you tell us a little about yourself? 20 May 2015, a major milestone in modernisation
I'm a Slovak diplomat, who have been serving as ambas- and expansion was reached, as 72 Countries plus the
sador to Ukraine, and recently I was re-appointed as Secre- EU, EURATOM and ECO WAS signed the International
tary-General of the International Energy Charter for a sec- Energy Charter at a Ministerial conference hosted by the
ond mandate. My last mandate expired December 2016, government of The Netherlands.
so this is the first year of my new mandate. So I think it's
a recognition of the work that we are doing, and therefore The International Energy Charter is a political declara-
I'm happy to serve the constituency for the next five years. tion about principles for international energy coopera-
tion, and is intended as a first step towards accession to
Q: How many persons are working in the organisation? the legally binding Energy Charter Treaty. The declara-
We are a very small organisation, and we have up to 40 tion attempts to reflect the changes in the energy world
collaborators all together, and we are a very cost efficient that have emerged since development of the original En-
secretariat. ergy Charter Treaty in the early 1990s
Now we are in the second phase of the modernisation proc-
Q. Could you be so kind to tell us a little more about the ess, and the International Energy Charter has been opened
International Energy Charter? up. It is no longer only European, or East-West process. It
It was created more than 35 years ago, in 1991. It was the is a global one so we are engaging with countries all over

18 DIVA - INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT