OSCE Magazine highlights Kosovo, BiH education reform and Russian role in OSCE

VIENNA, 6 May 2004 - The impact of recent events in Kosovo on the OSCE's work, the relationship between the Russian Federation and the Organization, and a special report on education reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina are among the highlights of the OSCE Magazine's May issue.

The Magazine, a new full-colour periodical that was launched earlier this year, carries in-depth pieces and interviews examining the Organization's unique concept of comprehensive security.

The latest issue describes how the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the help of national and international partners, is putting a strategy on education reform into practice in a sensitive post-conflict, multi-ethnic society.

The Magazine also carries a wide-ranging interview with departing Ambassador Alexander Alekseyev in which he reflects on his three years as Head of the Russian Delegation to the OSCE. While calling the Organization "an indispensable pillar of the new all-European security architecture", he argues that "obvious structural flaws" risk undermining its credibility.

A series of articles on Kosovo includes the OSCE's response to the challenges posed by the recent violence and a staff member's eyewitness account of the riots in Mitrovica.

"The OSCE Magazine is intended to provide greater in-depth analysis and is targeted towards a broad readership," says Secretary-General Jan Kubis. "There will be less emphasis on rounding up fast-paced news developments and on keeping track of constantly unfolding events in the OSCE area. That is the task of our popular website."

The first issue in March carried an interview with Nino Burjanadze, Speaker of the Georgian parliament, a special section on Freimut Duve, the former OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, and the OSCE's efforts to counter the threat posed by man-portable air defence systems.

The Magazine can be accessed on the OSCE website. Readers can also subscribe to the print version at www.osce.org/publications/magazine or write to osce-magazine-at@osce.org. A Russian edition will be available soon.