The Israel-Hamas War Is Not On The OSCE’s 2024 Agenda
The OSCE is one of the world’s largest regional security organisations, however, the Israel-Hamas war is not on its 2024 agenda.
The OSCE is comprised of 57 nations from the East and the West and serves as a platform for dialogue on important security issues. And even though the destruction of Gaza, and the subsequent increase of tensions is of major global concern, it is not on the 2024 agenda that was just announced by Foreign Minister Ian Borg who is serving as the organisation’s chairperson for this year.
Nonetheless, this doesn’t really come as a surprise considering that decisions in the OSCE require consensus, and the mix of participating members indicates very differing opinions on this already controversial conflict.
Additionally, neither Israel nor any countries in the Middle East form part of the members making the inclusion of this conflict less relevant. That being said, Israel is the only partner of the OSCE. The organisation mainly consists of South-Eastern and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and North America.
On the contrary, the conflict is a security concern that affects the international sphere as a whole so including it in the agenda would be understandable, to say the least.
US Ambassador Michael Carpenter addressed this issue later in a conference with the press. He stated that the situation in Gaza will and has come up “periodically”.
He explained that while the conflict doesn’t fall within the OSCE region, because none are participating states and Israel is just a partnering country, it will still come up as it is of global importance.
Earlier today, Borg outlined the OSCE’s 2024 agenda which includes the war in Ukraine, protracted conflicts in the region, climate change, the protection of journalists, and violence against women.
Lovin Malta is currently in Vienna reporting on the formal inauguration of the Maltese Chairperson of the OSCE’s Permanent Council.
Featured image: MFET
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