Ambassador, what is the most urgent crisis you are trying to contain at the moment?
Georgia is our main problem at the moment. There has been a growing number of incidents in the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These regions have not yet declared independence, but they are seeking an independent status. The disputes began after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The OSCE is working hard on resolving the conflict. We have a field operation there to help make suggestions as to how the conflicting parties can be brought to the negotiating table.
How do you carry out your work in practical terms? Do you pick up the phone and call heads of states personally?
Our approach usually starts at a lower level. But sometimes we do advise the OSCE Chairmanship to become active at its level. The 19 field operations are the OSCE’s central instrument. Our representatives know the situation and the actors. First of all they try to talk to all parties and to make suggestions for a settlement of the conflict. In addition, here in Vienna we have bodies that take up the issues. The Permanent Council of the OSCE meets every Thursday. The ambassadors from all 56 participating states sit around the table and are free to address any open questions. In the case of Georgia that has happened regularly over the last few weeks. There have also been attempts outside the Permanent Council to calm the situation and find a solution. This process is currently ongoing.
How many staff do you have?
There are about 50 people in the Conflict Prevention Centre. About half of them deal with regional issues, i.e. conflicts within a region stretching from the West Balkans across eastern Europe and the Caucasus to Central Asia. We carry out the OSCE missions on the spot. This work is comparable to the job of a foreign ministry looking after a country’s embassies all over the world. We have a Situation/Communication Room that is occupied 24 hours a day, and one of our tasks is to implement the OSCE’s concept of border security and management. This is also of particular importance with regard to Central Asia. Beyond the OSCE border lies the problem case of Afghanistan, where large proportions of the drugs consumed worldwide are produced. Securing the borders to Afghanistan more effectively to curb smuggling is therefore of great importance to the security of all OSCE participating states.
How successful is the OSCE in preventing conflicts?
The success of our work is often extremely difficult to measure. A conflict we have averted does not become public – so our involvement is not noticed. In fact much of our work goes unnoticed; it’s a fact we have to live with. For example, we have an 800-strong operation in Kosovo. Although there is a lot of discussion about this region, you seldom learn anything from the media about the OSCE operation. The OSCE is present in all municipalities of Kosovo. The staff are available there with practical advice to already prevent conflicts between ethnic groups at a local level. This work goes more or less unnoticed – but it’s very efficient. The fact that the situation in Kosovo has been relatively stable for quite a long time certainly has to do with the OSCE’s presence.
What contribution is Germany making to the OSCE’s success?
Germany plays an essential role. Germany’s foreign ministers have repeatedly stressed that Germany also has the OSCE to thank for the country’s reunification. The OSCE made a major contribution towards overcoming the confrontation between the two blocs in the late nineteen-eighties. Since the OSCE moved on to taking preventive measures against potential conflicts in the region from the Balkans to Central Asia after the Cold War, Germany’s contribution has been very strong – among other things in the deployment of personnel. The staff for our field operations are sent by the individual governments, and Germany plays a leading role here. There have also been a large number of German field operation leaders whose work has have left its mark on the organization.
Herbert Salber
has been Director of the Conflict Prevention Centre of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna since August 2006. Before that the 54-year-old German was, among other things, Germany’s ambassador to Nicaragua and head of the OSCE Centre in Kazakhstan.
