>> tomorrow, chris grayling, conservative leader in the house of commons, talks about his support of britain's exit from the european union, and why it is in the best interests of britain and the united states. it begins at five: p.m. -- 5:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. now, european diplomats and scholars discuss strengthening european security. talk about the implications of the ongoing conflict in ukraine and the influence of russia in eastern europe. this atlantic council event is just over one hour. >> good to see you. >> um, good morning and

welcome. thank you all for joining us. i am fred, ceo of the atlantic council. and he talk about the role of diplomacy in the future of european security. i would like to extend a special welcome to our esteemed speakers, first and foremost the secretary-general of the organization for security and cooperation in europe. very nice to have you with us, sir, with your delegation. the secretary-general is joined ona member of the panel security. as a common product, professor adam rocks shelled, dr. margaret hearing, dr. serge company not that, and ambassador who is a member of the atlantic council while also serving as president of the chicago council in global affairs, our partner organization for today's event. i would also like to welcome the thing which guests we have today

. forgive me if i do have all of you in my notes, but i know that our board member is here. the oppressors of belgium, nicaragua, croatia, switzerland, and lithuania. this discussion comes at a time of uncertainty in european history, to the very least. or than a quarter of a century after the fall of the berlin wall, the strategic question that emerge in the immediate postwar era. looking back, sometimes, where we are now, we forget the huge importance of getting through the cold war and getting out the other side in at good of shape as we had been. a lot of people are kicked around the idea of whether some of those lessons can be applied other parts of the world including the middle east. turning back to europe and ukraine, instability persists as a separate 2015. minsky's fire agreement has failed to halt the conflict.

recentlence has seen a spike with 20 ukrainian soldiers killed in april alone, up from five in january. at the same kind, europe's self is inundated by the humanitarian and security concerns of mass migration, the overflow of civil wars, and it is unclear whether europe will be able to deliver order, security, and the protection of refugee rights while working with indispensable if not complex partners in the region. among the challenges are also threats to yours core. -- yours core. pieceisk unraveling the made through years of transatlantic leadership and prosperity as a common project. they realize the new dangerous -- dangers to europe, the council has ramped up its own

initiative because we think of a reminder is necessary right now in washington and across the atlantic of the centrality of the transatlantic relationship. electorates,y leaders have become increasingly reluctant to work together and restoring a vision for europe and transatlantic vision. a chief example of the challenge -- or toited kingdoms leave the european union. we released last week a letter signed by 13 former secretaries of defense, secretaries of state and national security advisers urging, making the arguments in favor of remaining in britain from a do political security -- geopolitical security standpoint. they could inspire a cascade of as othererendums members have said they want their own vote.

our panelists today come from a group of 15 experts from across osce, who comprise a common project. since the group's founding in to russia'sonse annexation in crimea earlier that year, the panel has held a series of frank and intense discussions on european security. copies of the panel's final report, i urge you to read it, his back to diplomacy can be found in our lobby. please pick it up on your way out. i would also encourage you to join a conversation we are starting here today and continuing on twitter using # strongerwithallies. he is currently a professor at

warsaw university, but previously minister of foreign affairs. he is a great friend of the attic council. it is pleasure to have them back with us. i leave it to you to get a more comprehensive introduction. >> mr. chairman. thank you very much. i mandate is to make a very brief introduction to our debate today. i would like to say that the panel of eminent persons was established with a mandate to respond to the question of how european security can be rediscovered as a common project -- the common project. amongmmon wisdom, popular the laterals and international

security experts is that there -- with an aim to make them more effective. thinking ishool of that one should convene with the congress mike historical .ongress in vienna the problem in europe emerged

not for the lack of documents, but for the deficit of mutual trust and confidence. i would like to say that our report reflects three different narratives. by of them is represented the democratic unity of the western states and another one by russia and the third one by the country's in between -- the countries and between who were represented by two participants of our panel from ukraine and georgia. that theike to say institutions should follow the problems. therefore, the panel of eminent persons in this work on final report has been focused on the origin and depth of the crisis in european security.

the suggested remedies, as a rule, to correspond to new realities risks and challenges. contact no shortage of , including higher level meetings. there is an urgent need to find to rebuild trust and confidence. , i proposed recommendations would like to say, the proposed recommendations, although they are --est, in fact, they oriented tobe less of rhetoric, but to the core martyrs. the problems, in fact, work -- were originated in the states

and not between them. west, but within the west and russia. what has to be done? in general, the terms that one has to recommend to de-escalate and demilitarized security policy. strategist for corporation and solutions under the osce offices should include, into another 16, following immediate steps and 2016, following immediate sets and measures in first, prevention of direct military conflict between the u.s. and russia, and focus especially on the question of how to prevent unintentional military incidents, second, development of political positionsnd military for a peaceful settlement over

the crisis in and ran ukraine as -- as i would like to say that the interim report of our group was ejected focused on the solution of the crisis in and ran ukraine. fourth, excuse me, third, extending of the osce mission in ukraine and a mechanism to -- the and implementation of the minsky agreement. fourth, a leveraging a framework for the political settlement of the ukraine crisis within the new european security order, which has to be based on the following elements. the core and fundamental political component of the new european order has to be both

national territories of states internaltability of political order. oscnd, confirmation of the principles i have in mind sovereign's, nonuse of force, nonintervention in internal affairs, respect for human rights, equal rights, and termination of peoples, corporations amongst states, and to foment -- fulfillment in good faith of obligations under international law. third element which has to be taken in this broader context is the new risks and set military on non-military measures.

ideas ofn of some rejectionnfluence or of some old ideas in zones of influence is or privileges for irreconcilable with the principle of sovereign and equal rights of all estates -- all the states who belong to the osc. the next element's revitalization and pre-activation of the negotiation on the conventional arms control process and on the new act, new sense of confidence and security building measures under the osc offices. --auspices. adjustments of the existing institutions to the new tasks and challenges, i would like to

say that not everything has to be reinvented, but many things could be rediscovered. some osc mechanisms could be upgraded. in short, it seems to me that pe -- right to find common security for the west and russia in a form of a new security arrangement. such negotiated copper might have to reconcile both different threat perceptions and national security interests. it has to be done to a world that is more interconnected, more contested at the moment, and more complex one than in the past years, which we know as cold war period. european system has to

be more integrated, and as i said, interconnected, since in the -- interdependent. it is more fragmented and contested, there is a need to take under consideration the existing political need and demonstrate both flexibility and sense of direction reflected in the usage of priorities in the are reflected in our final report. thank you very much for your attention. [applause] mr. kempe: thank you very much

for your introduction and for your overview of our report. outside the door . we are going to look forward rather than at the work we have been doing. we very much appreciate your opportunity to have this discussion here at the atlantic council today. let me start with the secretary-general. a reflection on something that may be underappreciated, which is the role of the one international organization in ukraine today and the osc possible has been critical from the very start of the conflict and continues to be critical. if you can just reflect on that role, where that might of all over the future and what it is the osc has and could be doing in order to address the conflict that really is bringing all of us here together. of the surprising

things is the surprise about the usc being involved in this. in fact, at the beginning of the crisis, we were told we have been dealing with ukraine, and keep dealing also with the crisis. they discovered at some point that their role was somehow one-sided. >> it did not find the ground for them to engage in what became an extremely polarized crisis. the media and the narratives were very different, and where there was a need for an and a tableproach, read what all the players could play their role. that is what the osc was able to provide. , how can iund which say, a controversial manner, the issue was discussed, in the end, there was an agreement, a need ar an international role in

political process, and international role on the ground to try to stabilize the situation, but also to try to unify the narrative on the conflict. a mandate was mainly a mandate of monitoring and reporting back, trying to avoid this kind of, how can i say, different narratives that also brought an expansion of the conflict. the result was that we started deploying. there is a story brought back by our monitors, they were presenting the differences osc communities. we had monitors that came from here, monitors that came from various european countries and even russia. they operate not on national teams, but multinational teams. they had to tell us the story together. we forced everybody to look at things from the same perspectives. i think that was a good contribution to the international community, feet on

the ground, but also in lowering the amount around this conflict. the political process is normandy, you may be following the progress. on the ground, the mandated mission which is mainly what we are monitoring, it is unarmed observers we have. we have expanded, a thousand people, 700 monitors and support.