This article, published in the German daily newspaper Die Welt on 31 July 2000 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, outlines the development of the OSCE into an organisation with particular responsibility for crisis prevention and conflict management in the former Soviet Republics and which, despite the difficulties that it encounters on the ground, is continuing to apply the principles of the Final Act in the area of its three ‘baskets’.

In 2005, eight out of nine OSCE representatives are sent on international missions and 80º% of the budget is spent on OSCE field operations. The Missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Georgia help illustrate the OSCE's role as guarantor of security in Europe.

Established in 1999, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo is the Organisation’s largest field operation. This video clip identifies the various tasks undertaken by the Mission: training of the judiciary and police force, identification of missing persons, integration of national minorities, promotion of freedom of the media and monitoring of elections.

Meeting in Valetta on 8 February 1991, the representatives of the participating States of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) adopt a procedure for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

At its meeting in Stockholm on 14 and 15 December 1992, the Council of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) adopts a set of measures for the peaceful settlement of disputes which aims, in particular, to improve the Valletta mechanism and to establish a Court of Conciliation and Arbitration.

On the eve of the opening, on 17 January 1984, of the Conference on Confidence and Security Building Measures and Disarmament in Europe, held in Stockholm as part of the CSCE, the French daily newspaper Le Monde outlines the implications of negotiations which look set to be fraught with difficulties.

Meeting in Stockholm from 17 January 1984 to 19 September 1986, the participating States of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) adopt a series of Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSBMs), including the prior notification and observation of certain military activities and the exchange of an annual calendar for such activities.

Meeting in Vienna from 9 March 1989 to 17 November 1990, the participating States of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) adopt a series of new Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSBMs) with the aim of developing the measures set out in the Document of the Stockholm Conference.

Negotiated in Vienna by the parties to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) is signed during the CSCE Summit held in Paris on 19 November 1990 by the 22 Member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Warsaw Treaty Organisation.

Negotiated in Vienna by the parties to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) is signed during the CSCE Summit held in Paris on 19 November 1990 by the 22 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Warsaw Treaty Organisation.

On 19 November 1990, during the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) Summit in Paris, Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the USSR, signs the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).

On 19 November 1990, during the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) Summit in Paris, François Mitterrand, President of the French Republic, signs the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).

On 4 March 1992, as part of the negotiations on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSBMs), the participating States at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) adopt the Vienna Document 1992, which incorporates a set of new measures into all the previously adopted measures.

The Concluding Act of the Negotiation on Personnel Strength of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (the CFE-1A Agreement), dated 10 July 1992, limits the personnel strength of conventional armed forces within the area of application of the CFE Treaty. It brings to an end the Mandate for Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) between 22 parties.

The Vienna Document 1994 on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSBMs) is adopted in Budapest on 28 November 1994 by the Forum for Security Cooperation and enters into force on 1 January 1995, replacing the Vienna Document 1992.

Concerning itself only with the politico-military aspects of security, the politically-binding 1994 Code of Conduct updates the 1975 Helsinki Final Act on inter-state relations and makes provision for new forms of inter-state conduct, particularly in the field of the democratic political control of armed forces.

Meeting in Lisbon on 2 and 3 December 1996, the participating States of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) adopt the Lisbon Declaration on a Common and Comprehensive Security Model for Europe for the Twenty-First Century.

On 4 December 1996, following the Lisbon Summit of OSCE participating states, the Spanish daily newspaper El País considers the Summit’s achievements, enshrined in the adoption, the previous day, of the Declaration on a Common and Comprehensive Security Model for Europe for the Twenty-First Century.

On 19 November 1999, the same day as the signing of the European Security Charter by OSCE participating states in Istanbul, the Spanish daily newspaper El País considers the Charter’s purpose and provisions.

Adopted in Vienna on 16 November 1999 by the Forum for Security Cooperation, the Vienna Document 1999 on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CBSMs) includes a series of new measures alongside all those previously adopted.

Adapted version of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, dated 19 November 1990, as amended by the Agreement on Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe of 19 November 1999.

In an article published in 2000 in the quarterly publication Helsinki Monitor, Kees Homan, retired Major General in the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, traces the steps which led to the revision of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) and outlines its main provisions regarding weapons limitation as well as inspections and exchanges of information.

In an article published in April 1994 in the NATO Review, Wilhelm Höynck, Secretary-General of the CSCE, analyses the means adopted by the organisation for its transition from the role of a forum for negotiation and dialogue to that of an active operational structure centred around the tasks of early warning, conflict prevention and crisis management.

In an article published in August 1994 in the NATO Review, Max van der Stoel, CSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, reviews the challenges faced by the organisation with a view to the Budapest Summit, to be held at the end of the year.

The participating States of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), meeting in Helsinki on 9 and 10 July 1992, adopt provisions on early warning, conflict prevention and crisis management.

This article, published on 22 December 1998 in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, reports on the ceasefire verification mission led by the OSCE in Kosovo and in particular on the practical tasks carried out by the organisation’s observers on the ground.

As part of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) [cf. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999], the OCSE Mission in Kosovo (OMIK) is tasked with setting up a police school in Vucitrn, site of the former police academy, and with providing the initial training for future members of the new Kosovo Police Service. The school’s first intake of new recruits begin basic training on 6 September 1999.

On 30 September 1996, Max van der Stoel, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, gives a lecture in Brussels on the role of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in conflict prevention.

The OSCE Monitoring Mission in Skopje is tasked with reducing tensions and preventing a spillover of the conflict in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. OSCE efforts towards reconciliation of ethnic groups include police training and sponsorship of the South East Europe University project.

Published in the French daily newspaper Le Monde on 4 December 2003, this article sets out the role and priorities of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in a region marked, at the beginning of the millennium, by the international battle against terrorism, enlargement of the European Union towards the East, and conflicts in the former Soviet Republics.

Owing to its expertise in the areas of early warning, conflict prevention and crisis management, the OSCE is instrumental in the fight against terrorism and organised crime. Related OSCE activities focus on police training and border control.

‘The debate on human rights.’ In 1977, during the first Follow-up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) held in Belgrade, the Austrian cartoonist Ironimus shows how the dialogue on respect for human rights has reached an impasse.

In an article published in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro on 11 November 1980, the day of the opening, in Madrid, of the second CSCE Follow-up Meeting, Pavel Tigrid, Czech journalist and writer, testifies on behalf of the dissidents in the Communist countries of Eastern Europe regarding the lack of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Soviet bloc 15 years after the signing of the Helsinki Final Act.

Following the conclusion of the meeting of experts on human contacts, held in Berne from 15 April to 26 May 1986 as part of the CSCE process, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments on the failure of the negotiations after the US delegation refuses to give its agreement to the final compromise text drawn up by the neutral and non-aligned countries.

In its section on the Human Dimension, the Concluding Document of the Follow-up Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), held in Vienna from 4 November 1986 to 19 January 1989, sets out a control mechanism relating to the international protection of human rights.

Meeting in Copenhagen from 5 June to 29 July 1990, the participating States of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) develop the protection mechanism for human rights set out in the section on the Human Dimension of the Vienna Concluding Document. The improvements include, in particular, the deadlines for the application of procedures.

Meeting in Moscow from 10 September to 15 October 1991, the participating States of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) develop the protection mechanism for human rights outlined in the section on the Human Dimension of the Vienna Concluding Document. The improvements concern deadlines and the possibility of forming missions of experts.

One of the main priorities of the OCSE Mission in Kosovo (OMIK) during 2000 is the organisation of the municipal elections held on 28 October 2000. The electoral process is supervised by a group of observers led by the Council of Europe.

Bruce George (centre), Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, visits a polling station during the Kosovo Assembly elections held on 17 November 2001 and organised by the OCSE Mission in Kosovo (OMIK).

This video clip presents the OSCE’s role in the field of election monitoring: listening to voters and administration officials, giving advice and technical assistance, helping in the preparation of elections, and monitoring the ballot and vote counting. It describes the OSCE’s presence in countries in transition and in the new Eastern European democracies, such as Georgia, Ukraine and Russia, as well as in well-established Western democracies, such as the United States.

This video clip presents the OSCE campaign for the return and reintegration of refugees and displaced persons in Croatia in cooperation with the Croatian Government and the country’s non-governmental organisations. It describes how the OSCE is helping in the localisation and housing of displaced Serbs in Croatia as part of a policy of long-term reconciliation and reconstruction.

On 13 and 14 July 2006, the OSCE holds a conference in Vienna on the protection of journalists and access to information. The photo shows Patrick Chappatte, cartoonist for the International Herald Tribune, giving his views on freedom of opinion and expression.

The final document of the Bonn Conference on Economic Cooperation in Europe, dated April 1990, sets out the principles that govern economic cooperation under the aegis of the CSCE after the collapse of Communism.

This video clip describes the activities of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, in the fight against the pollution caused by radioactive waste. The OSCE is carrying out public information and awareness campaigns regarding the health and safety risks and is trying to encourage governments to cooperate in the management of the ecological disaster.