The Polish foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, who also serves as the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, reflected on 2022 as a landmarkly challenging year in the history of the OSCE, an organization established in 1975 with the aim of fostering peace, security, and cooperation across the euro-Atlantic and post-Soviet space. This characterization comes from a parallel assessment of the security landscape during that period and underscores the strain that the OSCE’s consensus-based approach faced under global tensions.
Rau emphasized that the year proved exceptionally difficult because member states could not reach a unified stance on critical matters. The absence of broad consensus, he noted, was not a mere administrative shortcoming but a tangible sign of deepening divides among participating countries on strategic decisions, responses to conflicts, and future energy and security frameworks. The friction reflected the broader geopolitical rupture that influenced debates within the OSCE and complicated collective action across its three dimensions: political-mmilitary, economic-environmental, and human aspects.
He pointed to the central obstacle to agreement: Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the international community’s response to those moves. Rau argued that Moscow’s aggression had a direct chilling effect on the OSCE’s ability to forge a common framework, effectively constraining the organization’s capacity to present a unified policy position or a shared mechanism for monitoring and addressing breaches of territorial integrity and security norms.
Looking ahead, Rau indicated that the OSCE Ministerial Council scheduled to convene in Lodz on December 1–2 should deliver a comprehensive summary of the year’s events and the OSCE’s performance across its diverse mandate. In his view, such a summary would capture the full range of challenges faced, evaluate the organization’s tools and methods, and highlight the essential areas where member states need to focus their efforts to reinforce European security. The aim is to provide a clear, collective assessment that can guide future work and help rebuild the OSCE’s consensus-building capacity for pressing security concerns.
Within the program for the meeting, the Ukrainian situation is expected to remain a focal point. The discussions are anticipated to center on how the OSCE can contribute to stabilizing the region, protecting civilian life, and supporting humanitarian access, while also examining avenues for political dialogue among participating states. This emphasis reflects the ongoing priority of ensuring accountability, preventing escalation, and strengthening the OSCE’s ability to respond to rapidly changing conditions on the ground.
In parallel, there were reports that the Polish government would coordinate with its Baltic and Nordic partners to address the evolving security threats in the region. Warsaw has signaled that it would coordinate with like-minded capitals to advocate for a robust response by the European Union, including measures designed to deter aggression and impose consequences for violations of international norms. The plan reportedly involves presenting a coordinated sanctions package as a means of signaling resolve and maintaining pressure on those considered to be responsible for destabilizing actions in and around Europe. The aim is to align the EU’s strategic posture with the realities on the ground, ensuring that sanctions are targeted, effective, and accompanied by clear timelines and review mechanisms.