III. Building military security cooperation in the OSCE area

Chapter:

11. Conventional arms control

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2010

Author(s):

Zdzislaw Lachowski

For decades European military confidence and security building has been a unique practice and experiment. In 2009 the OSCE participants continued to focus on its operational, ‘soft’ , arms control dimension.⁴⁸ Reports were submitted to the Ministerial Meeting at the end of the year on military confidence building and security, cooperation in the field of small arms and light weapons (SALW), reduction in stockpiles of conventional ammunition (SCA), and the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security (COC).⁴⁹ Significantly, in 2009 the general level of implementation of information exchanges under the norm- and standard-setting regimes was lower and less compliant in timing than in previous years. The normative efforts of the confidence-enhancing measures have also dwindled. With the aim of strengthening cooperation between the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) and the OSCE Permanent Council as part of the revamped concept of comprehensive and indivisible security, these bodies held five joint meetings in 2009.