Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security

VIENNA - Serbia's Foreign Minister and Chairperson of the OSCE Ivica Dacic and Swiss and German foreign ministers Didier Burkhalter and Frank Walter Steinmeier said on Monday the composition of the Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security as a Common Project had been decided.

They thanked 15 distinguished individuals who had accepted their invitation to be part of the panel, the OSCE stated.

They also thanked Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger for agreeing to chair the panel.

Besides continuing our efforts to bring peace back to Ukraine, it is also time to focus on the more general crisis in European security that has escalated following recent events, and this panel will help start a discussion on the issue, Dacic said.

The OSCE needs to do everything possible to change the trend of growing distrust and polarisation in Europe, by bringing together people from all regions of the OSCE, who come from different environments and possess a variety of experiences, Burkhalter stated, adding that the panel will provide a valuable contribution to that goal and help the OSCE in its effort to set a path to progress.

In a situation when European security is at stake, the OSCE has to find a way to return to dialogue and re-establish security and cooperation in Europe, Steinmeier noted, adding that the panel can provide a valuable contribution in that sense.

The first meeting of the panel will be held during the Munich Security Conference in on February 8. The panel will adopt two reports there, one on lessons learned from the OSCE's activities in Ukraine and the other on broader issues of security in Europe and the OSCE region as a whole.

Photo Tanjug, S. Radovanovic (archive photo)