MUNICH, Germany – The crucial role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as a bridge-builder and an agent of peace was recognized on February 7, said foreign affairs ministers of the OSCE Troika and the OSCE secretary general as they accepted the Ewald von Kleist Award, on the margins of the Munich Security Conference. For the first time in the award’s history, it was given to an organization rather than an individual.
The Ewald von Kleist Award, which honors outstanding contributions to peace and conflict resolution, this year recognizes “the OSCE’s contribution to peace, stability and security in Europe, particularly its efforts through the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, as well as its diplomatic attempts to end the crisis.”
The OSCE Troika consists of foreign affairs ministers from the current, preceding and future OSCE chairmanships, as well as OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier.
“This award is an acknowledgement that the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security and its role as a forum for inclusive dialogue and joint action are more important than ever today, when we need to find ways to address the growing East-West divide,” said Ivica Dačić, OSCE chairperson-in-office and Serbia’s foreign affairs minister, as he received the award during a gala dinner hosted by the Bavarian Minister-President Horst Seehofer at the Münchner Residenz.
“We must intensify our efforts to overcome growing divisions and continue working toward ‘peace through dialogue’ – for this, the best platform is the OSCE,” Mr. Dačić noted.
Swiss Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Burkhalter, who was OSCE chair last year, said the award highlights the growing recognition of the OSCE’s role and potential. “We need a strong OSCE as a solid anchor of cooperative security in Europe,” he said. “It is our shared responsibility not to allow Europe to become divided again. We must persist in our efforts to work out common solutions to overcome the Ukraine crisis and the broader crisis of European security.”
German Foreign Affairs Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will chair the OSCE next year, said: “The crisis in Ukraine highlighted the eminent role the OSCE can play for peace and security in Europe. In times of conflict, we will jointly strive to foster dialogue and enhance and strengthen the OSCE’s mandate for peace and security in Europe.”
OSCE Secretary General Zannier said the award is a welcome recognition of the work of the organization and its people. “This award recognizes the OSCE’s unique concept of comprehensive security. The OSCE’s 57 participating states must continue working together to strengthen the OSCE as anchor of co-operative security in Europe and working to resolve our differences through dialogue,” he said.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is the world’s biggest regional security organization, working to ensure peace, democracy and stability for more than a billion people in the northern hemisphere, specialized institutions, expert units and network of field operations.
The OSCE has been active on the ground since the onset of the crisis in and around Ukraine, engaging in high-level diplomacy and multilateral dialogue, addressing concerns over fundamental freedoms and human rights, through to monitoring, fact-finding and military visits.
The Ewald von Kleist Award honors the political life and work of Ewald von Kleist (1922-2013), who founded the Munich Security Conference in 1963 and hosted the conference until 1998. Von Kleist was also one of the co-conspirators in the plot of July 20, 1944, to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
The award was launched in 2009. Previous winners have included Henry Kissinger (2009), Javier Solana (2010), and Helmut Schmidt and Valery Giscard D’Estaing (2014).