The world’s largest regional security organisation on Thursday vowed to reform and “remain relevant” as it faces pressure from members Russia, Belarus and the United States.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has been left virtually paralysed as it relies on consensus among its 57 member countries, which also include European Union states and Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump’s administration, critical of how it handles its mission, has also urged the OSCE to downsize its budget.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, whose country holds the organisation’s chairmanship this year, vowed reforms to “ensure the OSCE remains relevant”.
When asked what he plans to do, he responded that “the answer to this question was a statement this morning by Belarus and Russia”.
“They expect this organisation to be able to discuss uncomfortable questions like on the causes of the conflicts… and we will examine if this will be possible. I think it must be possible in this organisation,” Cassis told reporters in a press conference following an OSCE council meeting.
The United States in December urged the organisation to cut at least 15 million euros ($17 million) in its annual budget by the end of 2026, calling on it to “stop sidelining the very actors whose presence is essential for peace”.
It also urged the OSCE, whose last annual budget was about 140 million euros, to focus on “missions that support stability and peace” rather than “transformation of domestic political life”.
Founded in 1975 to ease tensions between the East and the West during the Cold War, the Vienna-based OSCE counts 57 members from Europe, central Asia and North America.
It observes elections and has dispatched monitoring missions to conflict zones.
Three of its staff, Ukrainians part of a monitoring mission and detained in eastern Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, remain in Russian detention, with the OSCE urging their release.
Cassis said in December that the OSCE could play a major role in monitoring a ceasefire in the current conflict.
“Our current priority is clear: contribute, when conditions allow, to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” he said on Thursday.
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