OSCE honoured for contribution to peace, stability and security in Europe

6 February 2015

(L-r) Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's Foreign Minister, 2016 OSCE Chairperson; Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary General, Noble Peace Prize Laureate and Chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation; 2015 OSCE Chairperson, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić; Didier Burkhalter, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Swiss Confederation, 2013 OSCE Chairperson; OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier; Horst Seehofer, Minister-President of Free State of Bavaria; and Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Munich, 8 February 2015.

(Munich Security Conference/Koch )

The Ewald von Kleist Award honours outstanding contributions to peace and conflict resolution. For the first time in the award’s history, it is being given to an organization rather than an individual.

This year’s Ewald von Kleist Award honours “the OSCE’s contribution to peace, stability and security in Europe, particularly its efforts regarding the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine as well as its diplomatic attempts to end the crisis.”

The OSCE has been engaged in the region since the onset of the crisis in and around Ukraine. OSCE responses range from high-level diplomacy and multilateral dialogue, addressing concerns over fundamental freedoms and human rights, through to monitoring, fact-finding and military visits.

Explore our interactive timeline to learn more about the OSCE’s work in Ukraine. Click the image below to access the timeline.

The OSCE has received the prize on 7 February. The OSCE Troika consisting of Foreign Ministers from the current, preceding and future OSCE Chairmanships (Ivica Dačić of Serbia, Didier Burkhalter of Switzerland, and Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, respectively) have collected the award together with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier.

(L-r) Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Troika: Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany; Ivica Dačić of Serbia; Didier Burkhalter of Switzerland, with Lamberto Zannier, OSCE Secretary General, second from right. Munich, 7 February 2015.

This Award is an acknowledgement that the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security and its role as a forum for inclusive dialogue and joint action are more important than ever today, when we need to find ways to address the growing East-West divide

Ivica Dačić OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister

We need a strong OSCE as a solid anchor of co-operative security in Europe

Didier Burkhalter Swiss Foreign Minister

The crisis in Ukraine highlighted the eminent role the OSCE can play for peace and security in Europe

Frank-Walter Steinmeier German Foreign Minister

The OSCE’s 57 participating States must continue working together to resolve our differences through dialogue

Lamberto Zannier OSCE Secretary General
Read the full news release

Ewald von Kleist Award

The Ewald von Kleist Award honours the political life and work of Ewald von Kleist (1922 - 2013), who founded the Munich Security Conference in 1963 and hosted the conference until 1998. Ewald von Kleist was also one of the co-conspirators in the July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

The Award was launched in 2009. Previous winners have included Henry Kissinger (2009), Javier Solana (2010), and Helmut Schmidt and Valery Giscard D’Estaing (2014).
Learn more about the Award