Organisation for Security & Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
All EU Member States are participating States of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Altogether, the OSCE has 57 participating States from Europe, North America, and Central Asia and spans a geographical area from Vancouver to Vladivostok. All 57 participating States enjoy equal status and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis.
Prevention is better than cure. This basic principle stands behind many of the EU activities. A pertinent example is the EU's civilian monitoring mission in Georgia (EUMM). It was deployed immediately following the war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. EUMM has helped since then to prevent new hostilities and enabled the affected population to resume a normal life free from fear.
The Eastern Partnership (EaP) Panel on Security, CSDP and Civil Protection convened on 15 May in Brussels, for the first time under the EaP revised institutional set-up, addressing not only security and CSDP matters, but also civil protection.
On 19 December 2017, the 83rd meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was held in Ergneti. The meeting took place in an open and constructive atmosphere.
"The first and perhaps the greatest contribution that Christians can make to today’s Europe is to remind her that she is not a mass of statistics or institutions, but is made up of people"- Pope Francis addressing the participants of the high-level Forum of Dialogue "(Re)Thinking Europe – Christian contributions to the future of the European project"
On 16 October, the ministers of foreign affairs of the 28 EU member states reiterated the bloc's unequivocal commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU perspective as a single, united and sovereign country. The Council Conclusions also urged the Bosnian authorities to step up the implementation of reforms designed to benefit all citizens.
Josep Borrell takes office as the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP).