Experts discuss state of regional confidence- and security-building measures at event to mark 10 years of OSCE Vienna Document

VIENNA, 14 December 2009 - Close to 100 representatives of national verification agencies and defence ministries from the OSCE region gathered in Vienna today to discuss the implementation of the confidence- and security-building measures agreed by the 56 OSCE States in the 1999 Vienna Document. 

The symposium, organized by the Austrian Defence Ministry and the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre to mark the tenth anniversary of this key document, addressed the role of arms control and confidence building in Europe's changing security landscape.

"The Vienna Document remains the foundation of the interaction between the participating States in terms of military transparency," said Ambassador Herbert Salber, the Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre. "Since 1999, the security environment, armed forces and their activities have greatly changed, and upholding the principles of co-operation and information sharing in the OSCE region is instrumental to responding effectively to existing and newly emerging security challenges."

The OSCE States are engaged in a dialogue on the future of European security through the Corfu Process. In a Ministerial Declaration on the Corfu Process agreed this month, the States expressed concern that "the use of force has not ceased to be considered as an option in settling disputes; that the danger of conflicts between states has not been eliminated, and armed conflicts have occurred even in the last decades".

The Vienna Document obliges the participating States to share information on armed forces and military activities. It also contains provisions on compliance and verification, such as conducting and hosting inspections and evaluations, as well as on risk reduction, military contacts and co-operation, and prior notification of certain military activities. The national verification agencies are responsible for the practical implementation of the Document's provisions in the OSCE participating States.