Annual OSCE Mediterranean conferences

The Annual Mediterranean conferences are part of the Organization’s ongoing dialogue with its Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation. They provide an opportunity for the States to exchange views, ideas and suggestions on the respective theme of the event and create an important stimulus for a discussion on enhancing relations between the OSCE and the Mediterranean Partner States.

The idea for such a security dialogue goes back to the earliest days of the Helsinki Process in the early 1970s, which led to several Mediterranean States pioneering a special relationship with the OSCE. The first OSCE event with its Mediterranean Partners was a seminar on confidence-building that took place in Egypt in 1995.

The annual conferences are usually attended by high-level representatives from participating and Partner States, regularly joined by representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, as well as academic institutions, to promote the cross-fertilization of ideas and recommendations.

In recent years, OSCE Mediterranean events focused on: 

• advancing security and co-operation in the Mediterranean and OSCE regions while prioritizing the empowerment of youth and women;
• the OSCE’s and Mediterranean Partners' role in migration and integration policies;
• threats to security in the 21st century;
• media and new technologies; and
• the implementation of OSCE economic-environmental dimension commitments.