United Nations, Muharram 11, 1436, Nov 4, 2014, SPA -- As civil conflicts, terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, and health crises such as Ebola continued to transcend borders and threaten millions of people worldwide, U.N. partnerships with regional organizations never have been more vital to address and adapt to such challenges, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday. Speaking to the permanent council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, Ban emphasized that he has continued to deepen ties between the United Nations and the OSCE, and he commended the OSCE for its active role in addressing the challenges facing the international community. “A quarter of a century later, we are still wrestling with much unfinished business and striving to ward off the return of Cold War ghosts to haunt our times,” the secretary-general said on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. “We are a world in transition. New powers are emerging. Urbanization and migration are on the rise. We are striving for a more sustainable and equitable path of development. Distinctions between the national and the international are falling away. At the same time, the global security landscape is shifting dramatically,” Ban said. Describing Ukraine as a matter that “remains a deep concern and which has created divisions that stretch beyond the region,” the U.N. chief urged all parties to recommit to full implementation of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum, and he praised the OSCE for its early engagement and its prominent role in the eastern part of the country. “In addition to the tragedy of lost lives both on land and in the sky, the crisis risks jeopardizing our collective ability to solve global problems,” the secretary-general warned. Regarding other challenges faced by the OSCE region, Ban said longstanding tensions in the South Caucasus, the impact of the transition in Afghanistan on Central Asia, the radicalization of youth, and the threat of terrorism all were concerns that must be addressed in order to promote development. --SPA 22:48 LOCAL TIME 19:48 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w