Secretariat

International organizations need to work together if they are to effectively tackle global security issues. This was especially true regarding the numerous challenges posed in post-Cold War Europe by the collapse of communism and therefore, during the 1990s, the OSCE sought to define how to work with its international partners, culminating in the adoption of the Platform for Co-operative Security at the November 1999 Istanbul Summit meeting of OSCE Heads of State or Government.

The OSCE currently co-operates closely with international organizations and bodies including the United Nations, the European Union, the OECD, the Council of Europe, NATO, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and many others. The OSCE also maintains special relations with, inter alia, two country groupings: the six Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia) and the five Partners for Co-operation in Asia (Afghanistan, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Thailand), both of which involve holding regular meetings and seminars on issues of regional interest.