OSCE participating States discussed current and future European security challenges

VIENNA, 7 December 2017 – OSCE Foreign Ministers and other high-level representatives discussed ways to enhance strategic stability in times of increasing political and military unpredictability at a focused discussion on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna. The exchange built on discussions in the framework of the Structured Dialogue on the current and future security challenges in the OSCE area, a multilateral process launched by the Austrian OSCE Chair earlier this year.

In his opening address, Ambassador Clemens Koja, representing the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship, stated that the Structured Dialogue had been one of the main instruments to overcome the climate of confrontation. “The current security situation requires urgent action. This dialogue is a real opportunity to strengthen transparency and predictability and create new trust,” Koja said. He hoped that participating States would use this tool to explore ways to enhance strategic stability and improve the security landscape in Europe.

The representative of the incoming Italian OSCE Chairmanship, Ambassador Alessandro Cortese, welcomed the Structured Dialogue as a unique opportunity to rebuild trust and confidence by enhancing mutual understanding among participating States. He stressed the importance of continuing the open, constructive and inclusive engagement in the process, in particular in the analysis of threat perceptions and security concerns, including military force postures and exercises.

The event was introduced by Ambassador Christian Strohal, the Austrian Chairmanship’s Coordinator for the Structured Dialogue, and the German Ambassador Eberhard Pohl, Chairperson of the Informal Working Group, who reported on the Structured Dialogue in 2017.

The OSCE Structured Dialogue on the current and future challenges and risks to security was initiated by Foreign Ministers in their Declaration on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the OSCE Arms Control Framework at the 2016 Ministerial Council in Hamburg last December.

Since then OSCE participating States held a series of meetings with Vienna-based ambassadors and senior officials from capitals across the OSCE region. The meetings included discussions on topics such as threat perceptions, security concerns, challenges to the European rules-based security order and the role of military communication in de-escalation and risk reduction. The Structured Dialogue also initiated an in-depth analysis of force postures and military exercises. The process seeks to foster understanding and find common ground to reverse the negative trends in the arms control architecture and to revitalize co-operative security in Europe.