The OSCE and the Frozen Conflicts

This article provides an overview of OSCE engagement in the frozen conflicts in its area, outlining the tools used by the Organization to facilitate conflict resolution, while at the same time emphasizing the importance of political engagement by the respective stakeholders. While the OSCE will continue its engagement and further strengthen its toolbox, a lasting solution of the frozen conflicts will only be achieved if there are moments of ripeness, in which the sides involved perceive a settlement mediated by a third party as less painful than the status quo. After a short introductory discussion of the notion of frozen conflicts, the following three chapters will give a brief overview of the involvement of the OSCE in the conflicts with regards to Transdniestria, Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh and the tools and mechanisms applied. The final chapter will draw a brief comparison of the three conflicts and will put the OSCE efforts in relation to the notion of “political will”.