VIENNA, 13 April 2016 – As Poland takes over the rotating Chairmanship of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC), Under-Secretary of State with the Foreign Ministry Marek Ziółkowski said that one of the main tasks of his country will be to strengthen confidence- and security-building measures by revitalizing the Vienna Document 2011. Moving this process forward and including regional perspectives into the security dialogue with the focus on some areas including the Baltic Sea region, Central and Eastern Europe are the priorities of Poland’s Chairmanship of the FSC.

Opening the 815th meeting of the Forum for Security Co-operation Ziółkowski said: “Poland believes that risk reduction is one of the pillars of the Vienna Document-based co-operation. And nowadays the relevance and usefulness of risk reduction mechanisms are growing.”

He noted in particular the proposal made jointly by Poland and other OSCE participating States to improve co-operation regarding hazardous incidents of a military nature.

Poland’s Chairmanship will put an emphasis on regional perspectives in the security dialogue in the OSCE area. Political-military aspects of security in Georgia and Tajikistan as well as Montenegro’s Demilitarization Programme (MONDEM) will also be topics of discussion.

Regarding the crisis in and around Ukraine, the Under-Secretary of State drew attention to the lack of progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements and further deterioration of the security situation in Donbas. “The OSCE must retain its focus and resolve to facilitate a peaceful and lasting resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. We see room for the FSC to play a more prominent role here. For example, the applicability of the existing set of confidence- and security-building measures could be re-examined and further explored,” Ziółkowski said.

Poland is taking over the Chairmanship of the Forum for Security Co-operation from the Netherlands and preceding Portugal. Ambassador Adam Bugajski of Poland will chair the FSC till the end of the summer recess.

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Improving the situation of Roma in Ukraine by enhancing co-operation between Roma civil society organizations and national and regional authorities was the focus of a roundtable meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine in Kyiv on 24 November 2015.

Some 40 participants from Ukrainian national and regional authorities, Roma civil society and the international community, discussed the challenges faced by Roma in the areas of education, employment, housing and policing.

“Further efforts are needed to implement a strong anti-discrimination approach in all policies targeting the integration and protection of Roma and, in particular, of Roma women,” said Mirjam Karoly, ODIHR Senior Adviser on Roma and Sinti Issues. “Measurable progress at the local level can only be achieved if policies are needs-based and have concrete objectives that are matched with measurable indicators and realistic budgets.”

Andriy Vitrenko, Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine for European Integration, stated that the Ministry was tasked in 2013to facilitate the implementation of the Strategy on the Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society up to 2020. “In order to achieve the goals set out in the Strategy, close collaboration among a number of ministries at the national level and good co-ordination with regional and local level authorities are needed.”

During the meeting, the participants emphasized that many Roma lack personal documents, hindering them from exercising their fundamental, social and political rights.

Volodomyr Kondur, Chairperson of the Roma Coalition, said: “We welcome the adoption of national and regional policy documents addressing the problems Roma face, but we want to see effective and sustainable results and ask for ensuring involvement of the Roma civil society in all stages of policy implementation and evaluation.”

The roundtable meeting was organized as a follow-up to ODIHR’s Situation Assessment Report on Roma in Ukraine and the Impact of the Current Crises and in line with the 2003 OSCE Action Plan on Roma and Sinti.

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COPENHAGEN, 13 June 2016 – Pointing to a loss of trust between OSCE countries in recent years, the rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly’s political affairs and security committee, Margareta Cederfelt (MP, Sweden), has authored a report and draft resolution geared towards strengthening international dialogue and improving co-operation to meet common challenges facing the OSCE region. The resolution will be considered at the OSCE PA’s 25th Annual Session, being held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from 1 to 5 July.

“Since so many international problems require real multilateral engagement, the gridlock and loss of trust we have recently seen across the OSCE area has had a tangible and negative impact on our mutual security,” Cederfelt said today. “Only by strengthening dialogue and political will can diplomatic efforts succeed in bringing together belligerent parties, resolving conflicts and addressing common threats.”

In this regard, she said that the OSCE should utilize its full capacity to tackle problems including transnational terrorism and the crisis in and around Ukraine. The resolution also points to conflicts and challenges of refugees and internally displaced persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova as requiring greater attention and political will. Regarding Abkhazia, Georgia, and South Ossetia, Georgia, the resolution calls for strengthening international dialogue in regard to the security and stability arrangements, and urges the full implementation of the EU-brokered Six-Point Agreement of 12 August 2008.

Other key themes highlighted by the rapporteur include women in armed conflict, the link between security and democracy, and the fight against corruption. Specifically, Cederfelt’s resolution:

• Calls upon OSCE governments to harmonize and co-ordinate anti-terrorism legislation and intelligence-sharing, as well as develop measures to block the funding of terrorist groups;
• Urges all parties to the Ukraine conflict to fully implement the Package of Measures for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, and calls for an international peacekeeping operation under the auspices of the UN and the OSCE to reinforce the Minsk Agreements;
• Calls for democratic and legal accountability in order to address corruption and ensure greater political integrity;
• Encourages OSCE countries to promote effective measures to provide security guarantees and humanitarian relief for women at all stages of the conflict cycle.

Regarding the crisis in and around Ukraine, which Cederfelt underlines has been exacerbated by Russian aggression, the resolution expresses “respect for the principles of the inviolability of frontiers and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes, equal rights, and self-determination of peoples as stated in the Helsinki Final Act, and calls on the Russian Federation to restrain its aggressive practices and reverse the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.” 

Concern is also expressed over recent military escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, with the resolution urging parliamentarians to encourage political will from the sides in the region to promote an agreement on confidence building-measures to reduce the risk for further hostilities.

Cederfelt’s draft resolution will be debated and amended during a number of meetings of the OSCE PA’s General Committee on Political Affairs and Security beginning on 2 July. The committee will also take up several other resolutions that cover additional matters related to the OSCE’s politico-military dimension of security. After the amendment process and their adoption by the committee, resolutions will be voted on by the full Assembly during the final day of the Annual Session on 5 July, for inclusion in the OSCE PA’s Tbilisi Declaration.

The Declaration, containing wide-ranging policy recommendations and pronouncements in the fields of security, economics and the environment, and human rights, will be sent to the foreign ministers of OSCE participating States and presented in national parliaments. 

Held under the theme “25 Years of Parliamentary Co-operation: Building Trust Through Dialogue,” the Annual Session will take place at Expo Georgia Exhibition Center in Tbilisi, and is open to the media. Additional information, including the full text of resolutions and reports, is available here. Journalists interested in attending the Annual Session should register here by 20 June.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.

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VIENNA, 28 June 2016 – High-level representatives of OSCE participating States, Partners for Co-operation and partnering organizations are exploring how to revive co-operative security against the backdrop of current challenges to European security, during the three-day 2016 Annual Security Review Conference (ASRC), which started today in Vienna.

The Conference brings together about 400 participants and was opened by the Special Representative of the Federal Government of Germany for the OSCE Chairmanship Gernot Erler who stressed that the discussion should provide an “honest, scrupulously constructive dialogue.” He welcomed the agreement by all OSCE participating States to use the platform of the ASRC to discuss the crises and conflicts in the OSCE area in a frank manner.

“Peace in Europe is broken and the fundamental values and principles of the European security order have been and are being called into question. This situation is unacceptable,” he said. “At the same time we must adhere to a tone characterized by mutual confidence.”

Looking at the conflict in and around Ukraine in particular, Erler emphasized that the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) must not be threatened nor its work obstructed. “The SMM must not be made blind,” said Erler as he criticized the recent attacks on SMM unarmed aerial vehicles and cameras.

Erler welcomed the keynote speaker José Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of Timor-Leste:  “Mr. Ramos-Horta fought for the freedom of his country and his people with perseverance and by peaceful means.  Today, he can be a source of inspiration for us in the OSCE,” Erler said.  

In his speech, Ramos-Horta said that Europe is at a crossroads, but the region had faced greater challenges in the past. “You can do it again, and do better still,” he said, referring to the rebuilding of Europe after the Second Word War. With a view to many unresolved conflicts Ramos-Horta urged: “The preferred option should always be prevention of conflicts, dialogue and mediation to settle disputes. When these are actively, creatively and patiently exercised in a timely fashion more often than not they produce better results than the use of force.”

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said that despite divergent interpretations of the origins of the current crisis in European security “there is also a growing realization that we cannot simply give up on seeking a convergence of interests where this appears possible.”

Highlighting the agreement reached earlier this year by participating States on a second set of OSCE confidence-building measures on cybersecurity, Zannier said that the OSCE as the most inclusive platform for dialogue in the northern hemisphere should play a significant role in revitalising the discussion on strengthening arms control. “Establishing a neutral mechanism for military fact-finding, inspections under an OSCE flag or even a centralized and institutionalized OSCE verification/inspection mechanism are some of the suggestions that we may want to consider,” he said.

Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva conveyed a message to the ASRC participants by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, re-affirming the benefits of enhancing “the invaluable co-operation between the OSCE and the United Nations.”

Møller welcomed the call by Germany’s 2016 OSCE Chairmanship for ‘renewing dialogue, rebuilding trust and restoring security.’ “As we work to pursue these goals, we need to devise joint strategies according to our respective strengths,” he said.

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It may be easy to resort to binary thinking, or ‘thinking in black and white’, but it is too simplistic to understand our complex world. It forces us to focus on differences, “us” vs. “them”, rather than on our common ground, shared interests and aspirations: universal human rights, peace, security and prosperity.

The OSCE launched the #LetsDoodle contest in partnership with eYeka, a global community of talented creators, asking artists to create a cartoon character challenging violent extremism with creativity, imagination and humour. A total of 29 creative concepts from 16 OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation were received in support of the OSCE United in Countering Violent Extremism (#UnitedCVE) communications campaign.

[node id=256676 type="panel" preset="medium" magnify="no"]

Together even stronger

My cartoon character, MIX the sheep, is born of diversity,” says Jalal Bouanani from France, who won the first prize with his ‘Together even Stronger’ concept. “This is a nice, peaceful lamb, like a human being from birth. MIX will be a bridge-builder and the champion of actions against ignorance, racism, and polarization that can lead to violence.”

[node id=256686 type="panel" preset="medium" magnify="no"]

Come to the peace side

The second prize winner, Peno Mishoyan from Armenia, created his ‘Pigeon Legion’ comprised of the Teacher Preacher, Peace Guard and Media Master who peacefully challenge violent extremism together. “I chose pigeons, or doves, as characters since this bird is a well-known symbol of peace and non-violence. The three of them stand united, strong, confident and cheerful.”

[node id=256691 type="panel" preset="medium" magnify="no"]

See a bigger picture

“Birdy takes a bird’s-eye-view of violent extremism,” says the third prize winner, Tim Cordell from the United Kingdom. “Seeing the bigger picture helps him see the world in a more sensible and nuanced way. He can focus on similarities between people, not the differences, and likes to spread his insightful observations as wide as his wings will let him.”

[node id=256696 type="panel" preset="medium" magnify="no"]

Thinking positively with Clozz and Opun

‘Clozz and Opun’, created by Jerome Picard from France, the fourth winner, are also birds: they sit on a wire and ‘chat’ about everyday life situations. “Intelligence, both knowledge and emotional intelligence, is stronger than ignorance. Critical thinking will help overcome violent extremism,” said Jerome.

[node id="246381" preset="medium" align="left" description="Lamberto Zannier, OSCE Secretary General, joining the brainstorming in support of the #LetsDoodle contest launched for the young artists and designers as part of the OSCE #UnitedCVE campaign, Berlin, 31 May 2016."]

The #LetsDoodle contest was launched at the OSCE-wide Counter-Terrorism conference in Berlin, where youth participants together with the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier joined the brainstorming to help promote the contest.  “I was impressed and inspired by all the ideas that were submitted for this contest, how diverse and well thought-out they were,” said Zannier. “This only proves how much we, as the international community, stand to gain by tapping into the skills and creativity of an expanded range of people to prevent violent extremism.”

To see the complete entries of the winners, follow @UnitedCVE on Twitter and other OSCE social media channels.

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VIENNA, 28 July 2016 – Artists from France, Armenia and the United Kingdom won the #LetsDoodle drawing competition organized under the OSCE’s United in Countering Violent Extremism campaign.

The competition was launched on 31 May 2016 in partnership with eYeka, a global community of talented creators, calling for the development of a cartoon character that challenges the binary, us versus them, thinking that often underpins violent extremist narratives. A total of 29 creative concepts were submitted by artists and designers from 16 OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation.

“My cartoon character, MIX the sheep, is born of diversity,” says Jalal Bouanani from France, who won the first prize. “MIX will be a bridge-builder and the champion of actions against the ignorance, racism, and polarization that can lead to violence.”

The second prize winner, Peno Mishoyan from Armenia, created his ‘Pigeon Legion’ comprised of the Teacher Preacher, Peace Guard and Media Master who together peacefully challenge violent extremism.

The winners of the third and fourth prize, Tim Cordell of the United Kingdom and Jerome Picard from France, respectively, also used birds as the key characters in their entries.  

“I was impressed and inspired by all the ideas that were submitted for this contest, how diverse and well thought-out they were,” said OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier. “This only proves how much we, as the international community, stand to gain by tapping into the skills and creativity of an expanded range of people to prevent violent extremism.”

The winning concepts will become part of the OSCE United in Countering Violent Extremism (#UnitedCVE) communications campaign. Launched in June 2015, the campaign highlights the OSCE’s comprehensive approach to countering violent extremism and radicalization leading to terrorism and reinforcing a global consensus against this threat. Follow the campaign on Twitter for more updates.

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