OSCE Security Days, 23-24 June 2016

10:00 - 11:30  Restoring Stability and Predictability in the Politico-Military Sphere

The current crisis in and around Ukraine has exacerbated divisions and mistrust among the OSCE participating States, including in the politico-military sphere. Military exercises are conducted with increasing frequency and often without prior notification. There has been a growing number of incidents of close military encounters. Meanwhile military-to-military dialogue is stagnating or has been suspended. In this situation there is a real potential for dangerous miscalculation and unforeseen incidents that could trigger direct military confrontation.

• How can military confidence be restored in times of crisis?
• What new confidence- and security-building measures could be devised, in particular with regard to snap military exercises and close military encounters?
• Can the tension between the right of sovereign states to choose their own alliances and the concept of indivisible security be reconciled?
• What steps and measures should be taken to dispel concerns and ensure that the legitimate security interests of all states are respected?

Moderator: Fred Tanner, Senior Adviser to the OSCE Secretary General

Panellists:

• Anna Dolidze, Deputy Minister of Defence of Georgia
• Andrey Kelin, Director of Department for European Co-operation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
• Stefanie Babst, Head, NATO Strategic Analysis Capability
• Robert Cooper, Member of the European Council on Foreign Affairs

11:30 - 11:45 Coffee Break

11:45 - 13:15  Competition vs. Co-operation: Prospects for Harmonizing Integration Processes

Since the end of the Cold War, trade and investment have expanded dramatically, contributing to stability and security in the OSCE area. Many post-communist countries have joined the European Union, while others aspire to do so in the future. At the same time, some regions in the OSCE area have launched their own integration processes, such as the Eurasian Economic Union.

Against the backdrop of growing East-West tensions, economic relations have become more politicized and questions of compatibility have arisen, in particular for countries that are not included in one or another integration process. Meanwhile, economic sanctions and countersanctions have become a visible expression of the fundamental political divisions in Europe.

• What can be done to prevent the (re-)emergence of camps with exclusive economic arrangements within the OSCE area?
• How can connectivity and dialogue between different organizations be improved?
• How can regional organizations help move beyond the compartmentalization of the OSCE space and remedy effects of the current crisis?
• What kinds of confidence-building measures could be applied in the economic sphere?

Moderator: Christian F. Ostermann, Director of the History and Public Policy Program and the Global Europe Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Panellists:

• Tatyana Valovaya, Minister of Integration and Macroeconomics, Eurasian Economic Commission
• Luc Devigne, Director and Deputy Managing Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia and the OSCE, European External Action Service
• Heidi Grau, Head of the Human Security Division, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland
• Timur Shaimergenov, Deputy Director, The Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Honorary Fellow, Kazakhstan Institute of Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

13:15 – 14:30  Buffet Lunch

14:30 - 16:00  Building Coalitions to Respond to Global and Transnational Challenges

The OSCE area is facing a range of complex security challenges that are multidimensional, transnational or even global, and increasingly intertwined. These challenges, which include terrorism and violent extremism, organized crime, trafficking in human beings, climate change and the recent unprecedented influx of refugees and migrants into Europe, among others, are too big for any single state to tackle on its own.

• How can the OSCE participating States jointly address these challenges in an effective and co-operative manner?
• What innovative approaches and strategies can be applied?
• How can governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector work together to help address these challenges?
  
  

Moderator: Ian Lesser, Executive Director, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, Brussels

Panellists:

• Alena Kupchyna, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus
• Fabrizio Hochschild, Deputy to the UN Secretary General's Special Adviser for the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants
• François Heisbourg, Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Special Adviser for Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique
  
  

16:00 - 16:15  Coffee Break

16:15 - 17:45  From Confrontation to Co-operation: Reviving Co-operative Security in the OSCE Area

The OSCE plays a central role in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security architecture as a platform for inclusive dialogue and joint action. Despite its operational achievements on the ground, the OSCE has been struggling with political paralysis.

A deteriorating security situation and risks of new dividing lines emerging in the OSCE area jeopardize constructive co-operation among the OSCE participating States. Rapidly growing global instability is exacerbating these developments.

• What steps should be taken to avoid further worsening of East-West relations and what strategies could help shift the focus away from confrontation and back to co-operation?
• How can trust and confidence among the OSCE participating States be restored and what role can confidence-building measures play in that respect?
• What measures could be used to return to constructive dialogue?
• How can the European security architecture be strengthened?
  
  

Moderator: Judy Dempsey, Non-resident Senior Associate, Carnegie Europe

Panellists:

• Antje Leendertse, Head of OSCE Task Force, Federal Foreign Office of Germany
• Andrij Melnyk, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Federal Republic of Germany
• Štefan Füle, Special Envoy for the OSCE and the Western Balkans of the Czech Republic
• Igor Yurgens, Chairman of the Management Board of the Institute of Contemporary Development and Professor of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow