OSCE think tank and academic network debates contribution to the final report of the Panel of Eminent Persons

Discussion of strategic ideas for re-consolidating European security as a common project was the focus of a one-day workshop organized by the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions, which took place in Vienna on 1 September 2015.

Seventeen key research institutes and departments, from fourteen participating States, submitted written papers and fourteen took part in the  event to discuss the Network’s contribution to the work of the Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security as a Common Project. The project is co-ordinated by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA).

The debate on the Network’s draft report touched upon broader issues of security in Europe and the OSCE area at large. They included early warning and conflict management, transnational threats, arms control, economic connectivity as well as discussions on human rights and interfaith dialogue.

Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre Marcel Peṧko who opened the event said, “We need fresh and innovative ideas as well as strong recommendations on how to reconsolidate European security and overcome emerging divides between OSCE participating States.” He stressed that such ideas are needed both on a strategic political level as well as practical operational level.

Senior Adviser to the OSCE Secretary General and Project Manager for the Panel of Eminent Persons Fred Tanner added that the ongoing crisis in and around Ukraine has seriously challenged a tangible progress within the Helsinki +40.

“The OSCE participating States are therefore looking for a new review process where a strategic discussion about the future of pan-European security could continue beyond 2015,” Tanner said.

The meeting was chaired by Dr. Teija Tiilikainen, a member of the Panel of Eminent Persons and the Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). She stressed the importance of the Network’s project for the work of the Panel of Eminent Persons as the questions addressed are highly convergent. The Network’s report will be presented at the Belgrade Security Forum on 1 October 2015 and handed over to the Panel of Eminent Persons during their working session in Belgrade on the following day.

The Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security as a Common Project, launched by the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship in December 2014, consists of 15 eminent personalities with long-standing practical experience in European security in all its dimensions from all OSCE regions.

The OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions, founded in June 2013, has currently 45 members from all OSCE regions.