EU statement in response to the report by the Director of the Conflict Prevention Centre, OSCE Permanent Council No. 1571

The European Union warmly welcomes Ms Kate Fearon to the Permanent Council and thanks her for the report on the activities of the Conflict Prevention Centre. 

In the current challenging geopolitical context, marked by Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, the Ministerial Council Decision No. 3/11 on the Conflict Cycle and the OSCE toolbox remain of key relevance. We continue to believe that conflict prevention, early warning and response to emerging crises are among the core tasks of the Organization. Hence, it is essential to maintain the CPC’s strong and effective role at the heart of OSCE conflict prevention activities. We therefore thank you for your relentless efforts to support dialogue, transparency, risk reduction and operational readiness. 

We appreciate CPC’s contributions to the OSCE’s response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, in particular the continuous support to the Support Programme to Ukraine (SPU) to which the EU and many Member States contribute significantly, and which provides valuable assistance to Ukraine in all three dimensions. We also value the assistance provided to the OSCE field operations, as well as by the Mediation Support Team to the formats dealing with crises and conflicts and to dialogue facilitation efforts in the OSCE area.

Timely, regular and comprehensive information-sharing remains important for participating States. We highly value the CPC’s constant efforts in this regard, including through situational awareness and reporting. We therefore welcome CPC’s readiness to explore technological means to deliver on its mandate more effectively, including the exploration of the potential of AI-driven technologies to enhance the OSCE’s analytical capacity.

We also value the CPC’s continued efforts to further improve its reporting to participating States and would welcome even greater visibility on specific elements of its activities. We expect that our direct dialogue for constant updates would be maintained. 

Through the 2026 Unified Budget, the CPC underwent a strategic re-alignment focused on three pillars: politico-military, policy and co-ordination and programmatic, in order to preserve the core functionality of its mandate delivery. We take note of the new proposals to move PESU to the Central Services branch, thereby leaving the CPC with two core pillars, while at the same time assigning additional co-ordination responsibilities to the Director of the CPC across multiple departments and programmes. We would welcome further clarification on the rationale underpinning these proposals, their expected operational added value, the financial implications as well as its impact for CPC’s role vis-à-vis the field operations. In our view, any structural changes should reinforce, not dilute, the CPC’s capacity to deliver on its mandate.

We underline that the CPC must be provided, through the Unified Budget, with the resources necessary to carry out its mandate effectively and efficiently, as we have a shared political and financial responsibility for the OSCE’s comprehensive conflict cycle toolbox. 

In conclusion, we thank the CPC staff and the Director for their valuable work. We continue to fully support the CPC and wish you, Ms Fearon, and your dedicated staff every success in your future activities.

Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, and Ukraine align themselves with this statement.