From Helsinki to Uncertainty? The OSCE, Europe's Security Architecture, and the Challenges of the 21st Century

In 2025, we commemorate two important anniversaries for the European security architecture: 50 years since the adoption of the Helsinki Final Act (1975) and 35 years since the Paris Charter for a New Europe (1990). These documents represented key milestones in building a multilateral order based on the principles of cooperation, human rights, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. The Helsinki process was one of the few frameworks that enabled dialogue between East and West during the Cold War. The Paris Charter, in contrast, was meant to mark the “end of bipolarity” and the beginning of a new era of a united Europe. Today, however, the OSCE faces growing irrelevance, institutional blockages, and questions about its very purpose amid military escalation, strategic rivalry, and a breakdown of consensus.The discussion will reflect on what these historic documents meant for Central and Eastern Europe, the role the OSCE played in the transformation of our region, and whether it can still serve an active role today. The invited speakers will share their views on the challenges and prospects for OSCE reform. We ask: Does the OSCE still have a chance to be a platform of trust? And what remains of the vision of a “common European home”?Guests:- Emiliano Alessandri, Senior Advisor, Agency for Peacebuildingand Member of the Board of Directors, CSF Foundation- Ida Manton, trainer and scholar in negotiations,mediation, and conflict resolution- Sergey Utkin, Visiting Research Fellow, Institute forPeace Research and Security Policy, University of Hamburg- Loïc Simonet, Researcher, Austrian Institute forInternational AffairsModerator:- Andrej Matišák, foreign affairs editor, Pravda dailynewspaper