From the beginnings in 1975 of the CSCE (Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which became the OSCE in 1995), Italy has provided strong support for the Organisation’s role, for the purposes of maintaining security in the huge region that stretches “from Vancouver to Vladivostok”, and for promoting dialogue and cooperation between all the Member Countries.
Italy is now one of the Organisation’s major contributors, financially and in terms of human resources.
Our Country – along with the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Germany – is one of the major contributors the the OSCE’s ordinary budget. These ordinary contributions are in addition to those for paying for additional items for Italy’s account, for Italian functionaries seconded to the OSCE, financing for Italian observers taking part in Missions to observe elections of the ODIHR, as well as the OSCE’s off-budget projects. Among the latter, Italy’s contribution is particularly significant when it comes to financing the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (SMM), in which our Country has more than 20 observers.
In terms of human resources, Italy is one of the Countries with the most functionaries with the OSCE, and holds one of the four high-level positions in the Organisation, that of the Director of the ODIHR, filled by Matteo Mecacci. Italian nationals are also to be found in the Head of the OSCE’s Mission to Albania, Vincenzo Del Monaco, and the Director of the OSCE’s Secretary General’s Office, Luca Fratini. Then there’s also Roberto Montella, who holds the position of Secretary General of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly. Of the OSCE personnel seconded by Italy, 42% are female, which is a far higher figure that the average for the other Countries.