Politico-military aspects of border security and management in Central Asia were the focus of a meeting of the Forum for Security Cooperation (FSC) under Tajikistan’s chairmanship that took place in Vienna on May 22, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
Participants reportedly debated how to further strengthen stability and security in border areas in the OSCE region in general, and in Central Asia in particular.
Ambassador Idibek Qalandar of Tajikistan, the Chairperson of the FSC, noted that given the Central Asia countries’ proximity to Afghanistan, they face threats related to the illicit cross-border trade of weapons, ammunition and explosives, as well as other forms of trafficking. “These challenges should be addressed comprehensively and in a more efficient and effective way,” he said.
Ambassador Qalandar drew the attention of the OSCE delegations to the Dushanbe Declaration, an outcome document of the High-Level Conference “International and Regional Cooperation on Countering Terrorism and Its Financing Through Illicit Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime” (Dushanbe, May 16-17, 2019) that, inter alia, “calls upon the Member States to strengthen border management to effectively prevent the movement of terrorists and terrorist groups, including those benefiting from transnational organized crime.”
As keynote speakers to the plenary meeting were invited Mr. Jonathan Holland, Director, OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) in Dushanbe and Ms. Veronika Goncharova, the Project Manager of the Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA) who delivered presentations on implemented, as well as ongoing border related projects and programs in the region.
Facilitating support to improve border security and management in the OSCE region through building capacity of border management staff was another topic of discussion during the meeting
According to FSC, Mr. Jonathan Holland highlighted the role of the College in enhancing cooperation and information exchange among border agencies in the OSCE area.
The College is an internationally recognized educational institution that delivers expertise and good practices in border security and management, with particular attention to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Since its inception ten years ago, more than 3,000 representatives of border security agencies from 59 countries have attended its courses.
The College offers specific courses for women border officials, thus contributing to the promotion of gender equality in a traditionally male-dominated field.
Ms. Veronika Goncharova reportedly described the activities of BOMCA in assisting the countries of the region in enhancing their capacities in the border management and modernization of local border traffic regimes.
Since 2003, during nine phases the Program focused on creating in Central Asia a modern border management infrastructure equipped with the necessary facilities, including 45 border crossing points and border stations, seven training centers and seven training classes for border guards, four dormitories for training centers.
Goncharova highlighted the main parameters of the next phase of BOMCA (2020-2025), which along with the Central Asian countries, will also include Afghanistan for the first time as a beneficiary.
The Tajik MFA information department says that during the plenary meeting, the delegations of the EU, Russia, the USA and Japan to the OSCE welcomed the inclusion of the issue of border security in Central Asia in the Tajik FSC Chairmanship program, and reaffirmed their readiness to support the upcoming projects in the region.
The FSC has adopted its first decision under the Tajik Chairmanship titled “On the Reminding Mechanism for the OSCE Communications Network.”
Tajikistan’s Chairmanship of the FSC covers a period from May to August 2019.
The Forum for Security Cooperation is one of the OSCE’s two main regular decision-making bodies. Leaders at the 1992 Helsinki Summit of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe – the OSCE’s predecessor – established the Forum for Security and Cooperation to strengthen the focus on politico-military security by providing for negotiations and consultations on military security and stability in the OCSE area.
The Forum provides a unique platform for the 57 OSCE participating States to discuss topical security challenges on an equal footing. The agenda for the weekly Forum meetings in Vienna always includes security dialogue, allowing participating States to raise and discuss security concerns and challenges. These discussions regularly lead to initiatives and measures to strengthen politico-military security.
The Forum Chairmanship rotates among the OSCE participating States, with each State holding the FSC Chairmanship for four months. A so-called Troika, comprising the former, present and incoming Chairmanships, ensures continuity in the Forum’s work. The Forum approves documents and decisions by consensus. The OSCE Secretariat’s FSC Support Section supports participating States’ efforts to implement FSC commitments, which – like all OSCE commitments – are politically binding.
