Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter to attend conference in Vienna on the future of European security
Bern, 16.06.2015 - Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), will travel to Vienna on Wednesday 17 June 2015 to attend the Core Group Meeting, an annual event by the organisers of the Munich Security Conference. This year's gathering will focus on the situation in Ukraine and the future of European security. Members of the Panel of Eminent Persons will also be in Vienna to present their interim report on strengthening the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The situation in Ukraine and the future of European security will be the centrepiece of the Munich Security Conference's Core Group Meeting, at which around 60 senior representatives from the public and private sectors will discuss various security-related issues. Given the mounting threat of escalation in Ukraine, Mr Burkhalter will use the opportunity tomorrow to stress how important it is for all parties to take joint action immediately to prevent a further intensification of the conflict.
Also in Vienna tomorrow will be members of the expert group set up by Switzerland at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel in December 2014 to initiate a broad dialogue on future security in Europe. The Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security as a Common Project, launched by Switzerland during its OSCE Chairmanship last year in close collaboration with Serbia and Germany (OSCE chairs in 2015 and 2016 respectively), was tasked with putting forward proposals for strengthening the OSCE in the light of the Ukraine crisis and helping the OSCE states to conduct a comprehensive and constructive dialogue on security in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian region. The panel, made up of 15 experts from the OSCE area, will present its interim report in Vienna tomorrow.
On the margins of the conference, Mr Burkhalter will hold a bilateral meeting with the Serbian Foreign Minister, Ivica Dačić, who is chairing the OSCE this year. Switzerland, as last year's chair, and Germany, the 2016 chair, are part of the Troika, assisting the current chair with running the OSCE.
Since its foundation in 1963, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) has been dedicated to promoting peaceful conflict resolution and international cooperation and dialogue in dealing with present and future security challenges. Today it is one of the most important events in the transatlantic security calendar. At this year's Security Conference on 7 February, Mr Burkhalter emphasised the importance Switzerland attaches to cooperative security and continuity in the work of the OSCE in Europe in restoring security and rebuilding confidence.
Since 2009, the MSC Core Group Meetings have brought together an exclusive group of senior leaders in changing locations around the world for off-the-record discussions on key issues of international security policy.
Mr Burkhalter will also speak about the reasons for the crisis of European security and ways of strengthening Europe's security at a Swiss Association for Foreign Policy event in Bern on the evening of 17 June 2015.
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Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
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