All participants of Panel on European Security as a Common Project confirmed

BELGRADE, 12 January 2015 - Ivica Dačić, Serbian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, and his Troika partners Didier Burkhalter and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the respective foreign ministers of Switzerland and Germany, announced today that the composition of the Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security as a Common Project was now established. They expressed their appreciation for the commitment and engagement of the 15 distinguished individuals who have accepted their invitation to sit on the Panel. They also thanked Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger for agreeing to chair the Panel.

The Panel was launched on the initiative of the 2014 Swiss OSCE Chairmanship in close cooperation with Serbia and Germany at the OSCE Ministerial Council 2014 in Basel on 4 December. In accordance with its mandate, the Panel will provide advice on how to reconsolidate European security as a common project. It will, inter alia, prepare the basis for an inclusive and constructive security dialogue across the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian regions, reflect on how to re-build trust among the OSCE participating States and ensure more effective adherence to the Helsinki Principles, examine perceived threats in the OSCE area and potential common solutions, explore possibilities for reinvigorating cooperative security, and analyze the particular role of the OSCE in this regard. The Panel will seek input from participating States, the OSCE Institutions, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, multilateral actors concerned with European security issues, civil society, think tanks, and other relevant actors.

“In addition to continuing our efforts to restore peace to Ukraine, it is time to also address the broader crisis of European security that has deepened as a result of recent developments, and this Panel will help move the respective discussions forward”, Dačić said. “We should do everything possible to reverse the trend of growing distrust and polarisation in Europe; by bringing together personalities from all OSCE regions with a broad range of different backgrounds and experiences, the Panel is well positioned to make valuable contributions to this end and assist OSCE participating States in their efforts to determine the way forward,” Burkhalter continued. “In a situation where European security is at stake we need to find a way to return to a dialogue on how to restore security and cooperation in Europe. The Panel can give valuable input to the OSCE in this regard,” added Steinmeier. 

The Panel will hold its first meeting on the margins of the Munich Security Conference on 8 February 2015. It is tasked to produce two reports; an interim report, in particular on lessons learned for the OSCE from its engagement in Ukraine, and a final report on the broader issues of security in Europe and the OSCE area at large. Both reports will contain recommendations on action points for policy makers.