4th Ministerial Council

The Ministerial Council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE. The meeting, held annually, provides the Foreign Ministers of the 57 OSCE participating States an opportunity to review and assess the Organization’s activities and strengthen the dialogue on security issues in the OSCE area.

In Rome, Ministers expanded the role of the CSCE with decisions on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Yugoslavia. They established the Mission to Tajikistan and enhanced several institutions.

The responsibilities of the CSCE Mission to Georgia were expanded to include promoting human rights and democratic institutions, and the work of the Mission to Moldova was intensified. Ministers also agreed to enhance the roles of the High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

The participating States called for greater co-operation with the UN and other European and trans-Atlantic organizations and a more active CSCE role in promoting economic co operation.

Final Decisions and Declarations

The following final decisions and declarations were adopted at the 4th OSCE Ministerial Council in Rome:

• Regional Issues
• Further development of the capabilities of the CSCE in conflict prevention and crisis management
• High Commissioner on National Minorities
• The Human Dimension
• The Economic Dimension
• Co-operation and contacts with the United Nations as well as with European and Transatlantic organizations and institutions
• CSCE structures and operations
• Integration of recently admitted participating States
• Relations between non-participating Mediterranean States and the CSCE
• Declaration on aggressive nationalism, racism, chauvinism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism
• Date and place of the fifth meeting of the CSCE council

The full texts of the decisions and declarations can be found in the Final Document of the 4th OSCE Ministerial Council.