Meeting of the OSCE Network Steering Committee, Belgrade, 14 October 2019

The OSCE Network Steering Committee held its annual meeting in Belgrade on 14 October 2019. The Committee in its current composition was elected for a two-year term from February 2018 to February 2020. Its ten members represent institutions from Finland, Germany, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. The Network Coordinator is Cornelius Friesendorf, IFSH/CORE.

At the Belgrade meeting, the Committee members discussed the joint efforts of the Network’s 93 institutes across 42 countries. They took stock of the 2019 projects and discussed complex challenges regarding the Network’s management and funding. They adopted an update of the Network Statutes and considered ways to define a Network strategy.

So far, the Network has been a success. In the six years since its creation, it has been actively engaged in collectively arranging Track II events on security matters, elaborating policy papers and contributing to discussions between the OSCE participating States in Vienna. The Committee has now made preliminary plans for 2020 that range from Track II work on China’s Belt and Road initiative to an event on the 30th anniversary of the Charter of Paris.