Confidence- and security-building measures and arms control instruments key to peace, say speakers at OSCE Forum for Security and Co-operation

VIENNA, 25 April 2018 - The continued functioning of OSCE confidence- and security- building measures (CSBMs) and arms control instruments is key to reducing the risk of conflict in Europe, said speakers at today’s OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation meeting in Vienna, held under Slovenia’s Chairmanship. 

“The OSCE's founding document, the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, already included confidence-building measures and thus paved the way for the co-operative approach to security,” said Ambassador Andrej Benedejčič, Chairperson of the Forum and Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the OSCE. “I believe that more than four decades later we can all still agree that our confidence- and security-building measures and arms control instruments play a central role in maintaining peace and stability in the OSCE region.

“Having said this, I also cannot but acknowledge the fact that we face several challenges in ensuring military predictability and transparency in Europe. This is especially true when it comes to our efforts to modernize the Vienna Document, to implement the Treaty on Open Skies and to observe the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.  The continued functioning of these landmark instruments is key to reducing the risk of conflict in Europe,” said Ambassador Benedejčič.

“It is therefore important that we continue to address the issue of CSBMs, especially when it comes to our efforts to modernize the Vienna Document, and arms control in this Forum, which is the OSCE's main decision-making body in the politico-military area,” said Ambassador Benedejčič.

The current situation regarding CSBMs in Europe resembles a glass half-full or half-empty scenario, said Dr. Iztok Prezelj, Chair of Defence Studies and Vice-Dean for Scientific Research at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ljubljana.

“The full part refers to the positive achievements of the Document in history and in the present time, while the half-empty part refers to the ineffectiveness and missed opportunities in the implementation and modernization of the Document,” he said.

Dr. Prezelj said that that while the Vienna Document on CSBMs had been surprisingly effective in the past, it currently suffers from some serious challenges, though great opportunities for improving the Document lay ahead.

“Both sides should step two steps back to be able to take four joint steps forward in the direction of true trust and stability in Europe,” he said.

In line with Slovenia’s Chairmanship goal to engage with think tanks and academia, Dr. Cornelius Friesendorf, Senior Researcher at the Centre for OSCE Research at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy of the University of Hamburg, and Dr. Christian Nünlist, Senior Researcher and Team Head at the Centre for Security Studies of ETH Zürich - the new Co-ordinators of the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions - gave an overview of current activities of the OSCE Network. They focused in particular on the Network’s project for this year – “A new concept for conventional arms control”. The final report on the project will be launched in December 2018.

The OSCE Scholarship for Peace and Security training programme for young professionals on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation in the OSCE area was the focus of the presentation by Annelisa Miglietti and Ophelia Zenz of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). They noted the positive outcomes of the course which was jointly organized by the OSCE and UNODA for 70 young professionals, especially women from the wider OSCE region. The course began in January and concludes this month.

During the training programme the participants have acquired knowledge and understanding of fundamental components in ensuring peace and security. The course has contributed to their professional work, widened their perspectives, and contributed to creating equal opportunities for women’s participation in policy-making, planning and implementation processes in the area of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation.

“In the words of one of the scholarship recipients: ‘This training course is also a confidence- and security-building measure that lays a foundation among the participants for trust and openness and future networking,’” Miglietti and Zenz recalled.