As the end of Slovakia’s year as OSCE Chair for 2019 is approaching and impressions are slowly beginning to settle, I would like to share some observations I made being at the helm of the organization in 2019.
First of all, that in 2019 multilateralism has been under threat more than ever. And while we got comfortable speaking up in favor of it at many occasions – including the Ministerial Council – our actions tell a different story. Multilateralism means being ready to compromise and move away from our own national positions to find solutions to challenges too big to be solved by one country alone. It does not mean that we will all get 100% what we want, but that we can find solutions where we all lose a bit but gain so much more through stronger and united responses.
But these days it seems like compromise is seen as a weakness and in particular the outcome of this year’s Ministerial Council – the adoption of only six texts, many of them of procedural nature – demonstrated the glaring gap between our words and our actions. How is it possible that in our region and beyond we are seeing an alarming surge in hate speech and crime from xenophobia and racism to antisemitism, anti‑Muslim hatred and attacks against Christians, often fed by nationalist and populist ideologies and we remain silent? In 2019 we have not only seen this hate take an increasingly deadly toll from Christchurch to El Paso or Halle, but also heard about it as one of the most mentioned topics in this year’s General Debate speeches in New York. But at the same time, we do not repeat this call for action in our final decisions and declarations for our region. How can terrorist organizations ramp up recruitment and radicalization using new technologies to spread their messages of hate, and we cannot agree on a joint response for our region? How do we explain that our critical energy networks become more and more vulnerable to climate change and attacks, especially from cyberspace, but we fail to agree on our common approach to it? And how can the offer of a country to contribute to the stability of our Organization, by taking up the financial and political burden of chairing it not be welcomed with open arms and gratitude, but with suspicion and threats to sabotage?
Since its very beginning, the OSCE has been multilateralism in action. But multilateralism requires commitment and compromise to reach consensus from all 57, and not just 56 or 55.
And in a way the dynamics surrounding my first observation led to my second one, which is that success cannot only be measured in numbers of texts adopted. As Chair we were active throughout the year – in Vienna, in Bratislava and in the field – for people, dialogue and stability. And looking back at the year, I think, we did well. We put people first – on the visits to 15 field operations and numerous more to scenes of crisis and conflicts, in our discussions on all levels and in different fora and through concrete tangible measures. We promoted dialogue in our Chairs Dialogues, the Informal Ministerial Gathering and numerous events on topics ranging from Antisemitism, to terrorism, cyber security or Security Sector Governance and Reform. And we worked towards stability, whether externally – at the hotspots in the region – or internally by putting the Organization on sound financial footing or supporting the organization of the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting – Europe’s biggest conference on human rights – against all odds.
And my last and final one is that if we really believe in this Organization and its uniqueness as much as we like to say. If we think it has all the tools it needs, and is equipped with distinctive assets from the field operations to the independent institutions, it is time for us to live up to our principles and commitments and move away from politicizing procedural issues towards finally using the vast potential the Organization offers.
2019 has taught me a lot about this Organization, its comprehensive approach to security and its unique added value to our multilateral landscape. I saw that in some cases, it is present on the ground where others are not. I celebrate its achievements. Far too often, however, its tools have been left unused – and it is a situation we cannot afford to continue, given the current and future challenges to our shared security. For me the only way to harness the potential of the Organization – and to give it a chance to fulfil the objectives we set for it in 1975 – is through political engagement, and political vision.
With this, I wish Albania every success for its 2020 OSCE Chairmanship. Slovakia will stand ready to support in any way possible.
