On 3 November the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Lamberto Zannier, accompanied by inter alia the Dutch ambassador to the OSCE, visited Clingendael for an informal exchange with experts from Clingendael, the Clingendael International Energy Programme, the Netherlands Helsinki Committee and the Asser Institute. The experts explained the training, research and projects they are doing in the field of the OSCE.

Among the issues discussed were the current state of the OSCE, the wider implications of the crisis in Ukraine and the menacing dichotomy between the majority of the successor states of the former Soviet Union on the one hand and the rest of Europe on the other.

It was noted that the current crisis in Ukraine has provided the organization with new opportunities, but has at the same time made its work more difficult, because the fundamental disagreement about the Russian policy with regard to Ukraine has led to a reduced willingness to compromise in other fields.

It was also noted that while in the time of the CSCE, peer review of member states was the rule, OSCE member states nowadays tend to leave the job of evaluating the observance of free elections, press freedom etc. to OSCE institutions such ODIHR. This puts these institutes sometimes in a difficult position.