The OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions and the Diplomatic Acadamy Vienna held a Panel Discussion titled "Ukraine/Crimea: Crisis as usual or new european divide?".

The crisis in Crimea has developed into a more general conflict
between Russia and the West. The future of Europe is uncertain
to a degree not seen since the early 1990s. This raises a number of
difficult questions, and even raising the right questions is difficult:

• What options exist for the further development of Ukrainian-Russian relations including the status of Crimea?
• How did we get from a co-operative security policy approach to the current situation characterized by deep tensions?
• Did we create bad precedents?
• Did we apply the OSCE principles and norms in the wrong
• manner?
• What opportunities were missed?
• Where were wrong turns taken?
• Is there still a possibility of returning to co-operative policies via the vision of a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community?
• How could this be achieved?
• What can the OSCE contribute to the re-establishment of co-operative security relations?

These and many more questions were discussed by a panel of
members of the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic
Institutions.

Please view the full length discussion as videostream on the official OSCE website: www.osce.org/cio/116863

In accordance with the network’s regulations, members of the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions held a network meeting in Vienna on 30 October 2013.

The meeting was attended by representatives of 15 member institutions as well as seven guests. It was sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office and additionally supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). The International Peace Institute (IPI) was so kind as to host the meeting in its marvellous conference room in the heart of Vienna.

The agenda of the meeting included the following items:

• Measures to structure the work of the OSCE Network (mission statement; steering committee: establishment, duration of mandate, duties and tasks, modus operandi; network coordinator: duration of mandate; duties and tasks).
• Design of the OSCE network website.
• Steps to implement the network project “Threat Perceptions in Europe”.
• Further network activities, other proposals, miscellaneous issues.
• Views on the OSCE network’s contributions to future Helsinki + 40 discussions.

In a separate session, the meeting was addressed by Ms. Andrea Rauber Saxer, Deputy Head of the Swiss Delegation, Amb. Sanja Milinković, Deputy Head of the Serbian Delegation, and Mr. Serhiy Dvornyk, member of the Ukrainian Delegation, who delivered presentations on their delegations’ views on the OSCE network’s contributions to future Helsinki + 40 discussions. The Eurasian element of the concept of a security community, as well as the impact of the developments in Afghanistan, were, inter alia, seen as relevant issues.