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Quick Guide: The OSCE

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  • Quick Guide: The OSCE

    Quick Guide: The OSCE

    BBC News
    June 2 2004


    Flags of member nations at the OSCE HQ (Picture: OSCE)
    Membership: 55 nations
    Headquarters: Vienna, Austria
    Budget: 185.7m euros (2003)
    The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the OSCE,
    aims to prevent conflict and manage crises in Europe, the Caucasus
    and central Asia.
    The organisation is based in Vienna, Austria, but many of its 3,500
    staff work in the field. The OSCE is particularly active in the
    countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the republics of the
    Caucasus.

    The organisation's mandate is broad. It aims to promote democracy and
    human rights and to resolve regional conflicts. To this end it
    encourages political, social and media reforms.

    The OSCE has no peacekeeping contingents, but may call on the
    resources of other international bodies, including the UN and Nato.

    Background

    The OSCE's forerunner, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
    Europe (CSCE), was set up in 1972 as a forum for dialogue between
    nations. It brought Nato and Warsaw Pact countries to the meeting
    table.


    Moldova: OSCE monitors removal of Russian arms (OSCE/Neil Brennan)
    In 1975 the CSCE produced the Helsinki Final Act. The signatories -
    from East and West - promised to respect basic freedoms and human
    rights and to recognise Europe's post-war borders.

    At the end of the Cold War, the CSCE became a fully-fledged
    organisation and provided the framework for reducing conventional
    armed forces in Europe.

    The organisation adopted its present name in 1994 to reflect its more
    permanent structure.

    Members, decision-making

    The OSCE has 55 member states. These are drawn mainly from Europe,
    the Caucasus and Central Asia. The United States and Canada are
    members of the OSCE.

    All OSCE members have equal status within the body. Decisions are
    reached by consensus, except in the case of "clear, gross and
    uncorrected violations" of OSCE commitments by a member country.

    Member states fund the running of the organisation and its missions.


    Structure


    Summit Conference: Leaders of member states meet once every two or
    three years to map out the OSCE's priorities
    Ministerial Council: The OSCE's main governing body meets annually,
    except in a Summit Conference year; it comprises foreign affairs
    ministers of member countries
    Permanent Council: Undertakes the day-to-day running of OSCE
    activities; comprises permanent representatives of member states who
    meet once a week

    Leaders


    Chairman-in-office: The position is held by the foreign affairs
    minister of a member state for a one-year term. The incumbent has
    overall responsibility for the organisation.

    Secretary-general: Responsible for managing OSCE operations, the
    secretary-general is the representative of the chairman-in-office.

    OSCE on the ground

    Albania: A substantial OSCE presence aims to promote democracy, human
    rights and media freedom.

    Monitors on Georgia-Chechnya border (OSCE/Alexander Nitzsche) Armenia
    and Azerbaijan: The OSCE is working for a political settlement between
    Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region. It
    has monitored elections in both states and maintains offices in their
    capital cities.

    Belarus: The OSCE has repeatedly clashed with President Alexander
    Lukashenko after it condemned as fraudulent elections which he won in
    2001. The OSCE office in Minsk undertakes projects related to the
    body's principles.

    Bosnia: An OSCE mission aims to strengthen the legal system and
    de-segregate the education system.

    Central Asia: The OSCE maintains offices in the capitals of Uzbekistan,
    Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. The OSCE monitors
    elections in the region. It has warned that a failure to develop
    democracy will make Central Asia more vulnerable to extremism. The
    OSCE has criticised human rights standards in Turkmenistan.

    Chechnya: The organisation has urged a political solution to the
    conflict and has expressed concerns about the climate of violence and
    the lack of independent media in the republic. In 2002 Russia refused
    to renew the mandate of the OSCE's mission.

    Elections in Kosovo: OSCE is committed to democracy-building
    Croatia: An OSCE mission advises on democratisation and human rights.

    Georgia: The OSCE urges a political resolution to the status of the
    breakway Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. OSCE
    monitors are in place on the Georgia-Chechnya border.

    Kosovo: As part of the UN Mission in Kosovo, a large OSCE presence is
    involved in democracy-building and human rights monitoring. The OSCE
    police school trained more than 6,000 officers for Kosovo's new,
    multi-ethnic police force.

    Macedonia: Originally set up in 1992 to prevent the Balkan conflict
    from spreading, the OSCE mission expanded following the 2001 conflict
    between ethnic Albanian rebels and government forces. The
    organisation has trained a new multi-ethnic police force.

    Moldova: The OSCE is working for a political settlement between
    Moldova and the breakaway Trans-Dniestr region.

    Macedonia: 2001 conflict prompted the OSCE to boost its presence
    Serbia and Montenegro: The federation was admitted to the OSCE in
    2000, eight years after the old Yugoslavia was suspended during the
    war in Bosnia. An OSCE mission based in Belgrade has set the
    promotion of democratisation, human rights and media freedom as its
    priorities.

    Ukraine: The OSCE runs projects on media freedom, military and legal
    reform.
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