Since January 2022, Poland has assumed the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Due to a system of annual rotating chairmanship, Poland will have the unique opportunity to assume chairmanship for the second time in history, having done so previously in 1998. During a closing statement at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Stockholm on December 3, the UK Ambassador Neil Bush thanked the current chairing country, Sweden, and expressed his full support to Poland as the incoming chair. Earlier this year, the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau, who will assume the office of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, hinted at some of the priorities for the Polish chairmanship.

The United Kingdom supports the Polish OSCE chairmanship during the last meeting of 2021 

During the 28th annual Ministerial Council meeting in Stockholm on December 3, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, among other diplomats from 57 participating states and representing 11 partners, reviewed the activities of the OSCE. According to the OSCE guidelines, the meeting was meant to “strengthen the dialogue on security issues in the OSCE area” and address the most pressing security challenges in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian regions. Much attention has been paid to Zbigniew Rau, the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has since become the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the year 2022.

Amongst many policymakers who made statements reflecting their stances on the Polish chairmanship, the representation of the United Kingdom distinguishes itself by adopting a particularly encouraging tone. The UK Ambassador to the OSCE, Neil Bush, finished his closing speech by acknowledging new challenges and expressing full support to Poland:

“Madam Chair, as we look forward to next year, we offer our full support to Poland as incoming Chair. We are under no illusions. Their task will also be a challenging one, but we are fully committed in our support. We hope that others will also find the political will to work together to find consensus on the range of issues which merit our attention.” (Neil Bush, December 2021)

Minister Zbigniew Rau hints at new directions for OSCE in 2022

On January 13, Minister Rau will participate in the official inauguration of the chairmanship in the OSCE headquarters in Vienna. He is also expected to present a list of the OSCE priorities for 2022. Nevertheless, Zbigniew Rau has already hinted at some of the main priorities Poland would like to pursue during the OSCE chairmanship. At the December meeting, Rau explained that Poland would follow the approach of “responsibility, realism and reliability”.  Some of the main points touched on conflict resolution in Europe and beyond, effective response to Covid19-prompted concerns and increasing the number of shared commitments.

“Poland is taking over the OSCE Chair at a time when the Organization’s participating States have been facing numerous challenges to peace and security. A genuine dialogue between them must be based on international law principles and a strong commitment to existing instruments and tools that OSCE possesses. Our ambition is for the OSCE to operate in the most efficient way possible.” (Zbigniew Rau, December 2021)

Rau’s spokesperson, Lukasz Jasina, specified that some of the most significant challenges concern the conflicts in the Donbas region in Ukraine, the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Belarusian-Polish border and Moldova. Since then, Minister Rau has already tweeted about the difficult political situation in Kazakhstan.

https://twitter.com/RauZbigniew/status/1478703043298406410?s=20

At the official inauguration later this month, Zbigniew Rau is expected to outline his priorities in more detail. 

Author: Marta Kąkol 

Marta has recently graduated from Utrecht University, obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Thanks to her interdisciplinary education, she can apply multiple perspectives to complex political issues. She vocalizes her interest in public affairs in a multitude of ways, from journalistic writing to organising speaker events. She hopes to gain funding for her Master’s in European and International Public Policy at LSE starting in 2022.

Picture credit: Tymon Markowski, MSZ