.
The creation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) forty years ago was an act of faith. It may have had its roots in a temporary thawing of Cold War tensions but it was a time of a physically divided Europe, fiercely conflicting ideologies and deep suspicion. Yet the 35 countries agreed in Helsinki to set their sights on a better future.
The principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act remain the bedrock of our common European security system. Kazakhstan, in many ways, stands as a symbol of what has been achieved in the intervening years. Born out of the break-up of the Soviet Union, our country has good relations with Russia and the US, with Europe and China and is an active member of the international community. We have built a successful economy and harmonious society.
The OSCE has been important in this journey. Kazakhstan applied to join within weeks of gaining independence in 1991 and we were full members inside a year. Through the values on which it is based, the spirit of co-operation it promotes and the practical support it provides in implementing our common commitments, the OSCE has provided us valuable support in becoming a modern and stable country.
Our membership, and that of many other new nations, saw the then 20 year-old Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, grow in size and role. It was renamed the OSCE as participating states expanded it into a permanent organization with the institutions to help prevent conflict, build trust and increase economic, social and environmental security. Over the years, the OSCE has played an invaluable role in many areas including arms control, post conflict rehabilitation, the protection of minorities and the promotion of human rights.
It was why, in 2010, Kazakhstan was very proud to become the first post-Soviet country – and the first from Central Asia – to hold the chairmanship of the OSCE. At the summit staged in our capital, national leaders agreed the Astana Declaration, committing themselves to a “vision of a free, democratic, common and indivisible Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok, rooted in agreed principles, shared commitments and common goals.”
Looking around Eurasia just five years later, the shortfall between these hopes and reality is painfully clear. The crisis in Ukraine has seen conflict again in the heart of our region, fueling damaging divisions and suspicions. The imposition of sanctions has weakened already fragile economic growth. Many countries, including Kazakhstan, not involved in the dispute, have suffered collateral damage. The Eurozone, as the Greek crisis has underlined, remains deep in trouble with economic security, particularly for the young, out of reach. The threat of violent extremism is growing.
These worsening conditions have led critics to dismiss the OSCE as a talking shop, which has out-lived its usefulness. Its institutions, country missions and offices are accused of bias or powerlessness. Its vision of a common security space is seen as unrealistic. But the lessons from the organization’s history is that the opportunity it provides for dialogue is most essential when the challenges are greatest.
Given the current entrenched positions, dialogue is difficult. But Kazakhstan has played its part in helping bring all sides together to agree a cease-fire in Ukraine. Only continued dialogue will provide a fair and lasting solution. We can take heart as well from the historic agreement reached over Iran’s nuclear program, in which all the major powers were involved. It shows that even the most difficult issues can be overcome with commitment and patient negotiation.
We need this dialogue as well to find solution to common challenges from the edges of our region. All 57 OSCE participating states and their citizens are under threat from terrorism and extremism. We urgently need to step up our collective efforts to tackle the terrorists, counter their hate-filled ideologies and improve the conditions in which this message flourishes.
This must include increased support for the new government in Afghanistan to increase its security capabilities and to provide new opportunities for its long-suffering people. The potential for the OSCE to co-ordinate and provide assistance is great. We must make use of experience built up over many years. The conflicts that extremism have fuelled have also caused millions to flee their homes. Working together to root it out of our societies and region will also help ease the plight of refugees and reduce the problems migration is causing in many countries.
None of this will be easy. Twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War, our continent finds itself again divided with new barriers being erected. But the 40th Anniversary of the Final Helsinki Act, as well as the fifth anniversary of the Astana Declaration, provide the ideal occasion for a frank discussion about the problems we currently face and how to enhance the effectiveness of the OSCE to overcome them.
We need to concentrate on what unites rather than divides us. In an inter-linked world, where challenges go beyond national borders, co-operation has never been more important. The vision which led to the OSCE’s creation must be re-found and its goals and values used to achieve the ambition of a common space of peace and prosperity from Vancouver and Vladivostok.
Whatever the current difficulties we face in building mutual trust between nations and governments, we must remember that we have overcome even bigger differences. The Spirit of Helsinki may be experiencing hard times but it is alive. Let us all work hard to safeguard it for future generations to use.
The author is the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
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The Helsinki Final Act at Forty: A View from Kazakhstan
August 3, 2015
The creation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) forty years ago was an act of faith. It may have had its roots in a temporary thawing of Cold War tensions but it was a time of a physically divided Europe, fiercely conflicting ideologies and deep suspicion. Yet the 35 countries agreed in Helsinki to set their sights on a better future.
The principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act remain the bedrock of our common European security system. Kazakhstan, in many ways, stands as a symbol of what has been achieved in the intervening years. Born out of the break-up of the Soviet Union, our country has good relations with Russia and the US, with Europe and China and is an active member of the international community. We have built a successful economy and harmonious society.
The OSCE has been important in this journey. Kazakhstan applied to join within weeks of gaining independence in 1991 and we were full members inside a year. Through the values on which it is based, the spirit of co-operation it promotes and the practical support it provides in implementing our common commitments, the OSCE has provided us valuable support in becoming a modern and stable country.
Our membership, and that of many other new nations, saw the then 20 year-old Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, grow in size and role. It was renamed the OSCE as participating states expanded it into a permanent organization with the institutions to help prevent conflict, build trust and increase economic, social and environmental security. Over the years, the OSCE has played an invaluable role in many areas including arms control, post conflict rehabilitation, the protection of minorities and the promotion of human rights.
It was why, in 2010, Kazakhstan was very proud to become the first post-Soviet country – and the first from Central Asia – to hold the chairmanship of the OSCE. At the summit staged in our capital, national leaders agreed the Astana Declaration, committing themselves to a “vision of a free, democratic, common and indivisible Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok, rooted in agreed principles, shared commitments and common goals.”
Looking around Eurasia just five years later, the shortfall between these hopes and reality is painfully clear. The crisis in Ukraine has seen conflict again in the heart of our region, fueling damaging divisions and suspicions. The imposition of sanctions has weakened already fragile economic growth. Many countries, including Kazakhstan, not involved in the dispute, have suffered collateral damage. The Eurozone, as the Greek crisis has underlined, remains deep in trouble with economic security, particularly for the young, out of reach. The threat of violent extremism is growing.
These worsening conditions have led critics to dismiss the OSCE as a talking shop, which has out-lived its usefulness. Its institutions, country missions and offices are accused of bias or powerlessness. Its vision of a common security space is seen as unrealistic. But the lessons from the organization’s history is that the opportunity it provides for dialogue is most essential when the challenges are greatest.
Given the current entrenched positions, dialogue is difficult. But Kazakhstan has played its part in helping bring all sides together to agree a cease-fire in Ukraine. Only continued dialogue will provide a fair and lasting solution. We can take heart as well from the historic agreement reached over Iran’s nuclear program, in which all the major powers were involved. It shows that even the most difficult issues can be overcome with commitment and patient negotiation.
We need this dialogue as well to find solution to common challenges from the edges of our region. All 57 OSCE participating states and their citizens are under threat from terrorism and extremism. We urgently need to step up our collective efforts to tackle the terrorists, counter their hate-filled ideologies and improve the conditions in which this message flourishes.
This must include increased support for the new government in Afghanistan to increase its security capabilities and to provide new opportunities for its long-suffering people. The potential for the OSCE to co-ordinate and provide assistance is great. We must make use of experience built up over many years. The conflicts that extremism have fuelled have also caused millions to flee their homes. Working together to root it out of our societies and region will also help ease the plight of refugees and reduce the problems migration is causing in many countries.
None of this will be easy. Twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War, our continent finds itself again divided with new barriers being erected. But the 40th Anniversary of the Final Helsinki Act, as well as the fifth anniversary of the Astana Declaration, provide the ideal occasion for a frank discussion about the problems we currently face and how to enhance the effectiveness of the OSCE to overcome them.
We need to concentrate on what unites rather than divides us. In an inter-linked world, where challenges go beyond national borders, co-operation has never been more important. The vision which led to the OSCE’s creation must be re-found and its goals and values used to achieve the ambition of a common space of peace and prosperity from Vancouver and Vladivostok.
Whatever the current difficulties we face in building mutual trust between nations and governments, we must remember that we have overcome even bigger differences. The Spirit of Helsinki may be experiencing hard times but it is alive. Let us all work hard to safeguard it for future generations to use.
The author is the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
