The Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) adopted the Istanbul Declaration, supplemented by a resolution dedicated to cyber security.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted the Istanbul Declaration in July, containing a number of different security commitments. The document was joined by 23 resolutions, including one on cyber security. The wide range of security issues covered includes looking into possibilities to revitalise the organisation and its commitments, as well as to characterise the holistic approach to security supported by the OSCE.1
The cyber security resolution reflects OSCE’s conviction that it could play a useful role in providing a platform for discussions on cyber security for various stakeholders such as policy makers, relevant experts and others; function as a regional mechanism in supporting, coordinating and reviewing different national cyber security related activities; and be a “key instrument for early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation in its area”.2
Among other suggestions, the resolution urges participating States to follow OSCE’s comprehensive and cross-dimensional approach to security and to continue supporting the development of confidence building measures (CBMs) in cyber security.3
In the context of international and national law, OSCE continues to invite participating countries and others to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime and the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism. The resolution also draws attention to the need for more effective international cooperation in the field of cyber security, and proposes to further study existing legal acts concerning cyber security and to find supplementary means for better harmonisation of national legal acts related to cyber security.3
- OSCE, “Istanbul Declaration seeks to strengthen security agreements,”press release, July 3, 2013, http://www.oscepa.org/news-a-media/press-releases/1353-istanbul-dec-passes [↩]
- OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, “Istanbul Declaration,“ 3 July. 2013, http://www.oscepa.org/publications/declarations/2013-istanbul-declaratio… [↩]
- Ibid. [↩] [↩]