Principles and commitments

The OSCE is built on a set of principles and commitments that were adopted by the participating States five decades ago. They created the foundation for the freedoms and stability we now take for granted, and shaped our political culture in ways that, at the time, were considered truly pioneering.

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Key documents

Overview

The central document of the CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe process is the Helsinki Final Act, adopted on 1 August 1975. The Helsinki Final Act was a settlement on the territorial integrity of European states during the Cold War. But more than that, it linked the security of the international system with environmental sustainability, economic opportunity, and human rights. Agreement was forged on the “freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion,” and provided for equality for national minorities.

This entirely new framework gave room to the participating States to address security concerns within their region differently, based on principles of the peaceful settlement of disputes and the equality of sovereign states. This commitment to consensus, to politically-binding agreement, set the stage for an expansion of the notion of what security means. Over time, and as the CSCE grew into nowadays’ OSCE, further commitments were made by the States, and international co-operation deepened.

The Decalogue

10 fundamental OSCE principles

As part of the Helsinki dialogue, all CSCE participating States committed themselves to ten fundamental principles in the Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations between Participating States, under basket one of the Helsinki Final Act:

 

  1. Sovereign equality, respect for the rights inherent in sovereignty
  2. Refraining from the threat or use of force
  3. Inviolability of frontiers
  4. Territorial integrity of states
  5. Peaceful settlement of disputes
  6. Non-intervention in internal affairs
  7. Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief
  8. Equal rights and self-determination of peoples
  9. Co-operation among States
  10. Fulfillment in good faith of obligations under international law

 

The Declaration notes that all ten principles “are of primary significance and that, accordingly, they will be equally and unreservedly applied, each of them being interpreted taking into account the others”.

Key documents

The OSCE's fundamental documents from 1975 to the present

Since 1975, a number of key documents on Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security have been adopted by Heads of State or Government of the participating States at successive Summit meetings, the highest-level decision-making body of the CSCE/OSCE. These documents outlined the Organization’s priorities and provided orientation for several years.