Death and resurrection of Moscow’s Mechanism

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Abstract

The Vienna and Moscow conferences’ (respectively, 1989 and 1991) concluding documents form the basis of OSCE’s human dimension mechanisms. Both documents, though elaborated in different contexts, gave birth to the Vienna and Moscow Mechanisms. The former is a diplomatic consulting mechanism, which was quickly routinely used since 1991. The latter, which includes the possibility of forming experts’ missions to study questions related to the human dimension on one of the participating States’ territory, has only been exceptionally used. After a long phase during which the Moscow Mechanism seemed to have become outdated, it has finally been reactivated in 2002 towards Turkmenistan, which has allowed triggering an alarm signal with diplomatic consequences, by motivating the UN General Secretariat and OSCE to get closer to Turkmenistan’s authorities, towards a certain balance between incitation and pressure.

AFRI 2007 Summary