LJUBLJANA/VIENNA, 18 March 2025 – The annual OSCE Summit on Democracy, Freedom and the Media was held in Vienna on 17 and 18 March, organized by the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The 57 participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), plus their partners from the Middle East and Asia, discussed the current geopolitical moment and the security challenges of today.
The OSCE is the second largest multilateral system in the world, right after the UN. A unique organization that brings together everyone, from Vancouver to Vladivostok, it began as a strategic conference to relax tensions between the Western and Soviet blocs, in the form of the Decalogue in Helsinki in 1975.
Media and democratization are an inseparable part of European security and socio-political considerations. In the context of disruptions, whether through social polarization, armed conflict or disruptive (use of) technology, independent media play an essential role in informing the public about events and developments on the ground, supporting the collection of evidence of possible violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, as well as contributing to efforts to establish accountability.
Opening the important panel "The Role of the Media in Conflicts and Humanitarian Crises, Reflecting on International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law: Supplementary Meeting on the Human Dimension I" before the final part of the summit, the Director of the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES)[1], Prof. Dr. Zijad Bećirović, spoke about the connection between the media, disruptive factors (armed conflicts and technologies), truth and reconciliation, without which any future of Europe is unthinkable. The high-level gathering attracted the attention of diplomats and media from all over the world, because any just resolution of the Ukrainian crisis will not be possible without media freedom and the role of the OSCE. He emphasized how journalists are exposed to visible and invisible pressures and stressed the need to stand strongly in defense of journalists and media freedoms.
The panel was organized by the International Institute IFIMES in cooperation with the international scientific journal European Perspectives and featured keynote speakers Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary of UNECE (2017-23) on the topic "Global Organizations, Media, Freedoms", and Steve Clemons, a Washington insider, journalist, and activist on the topic "The Fragmentation of Media Reality".
Panelists included Nathan Coyle, digital activist, author and expert on civic innovation and peace technology with a paper titled “Technology and Media Authenticity”, Dr. Harvey Dzodin, media commentator and author, former Vice President of ABC-TV and political appointee in the Carter administration with a paper titled “Journalism, Truth, Integrity”, Dr. Philipe Reinisch, Project Manager, IoT4CPS, the Austrian government’s flagship cybersecurity initiative, former Director, Cybersecurity Programs, Kuratorium Sicheres, with a paper titled “Media, AI, Human Rights”, and Nora Wolf, IFIMES Geneva (HoMA) and Kamila Bogdanova, Researcher IDM, Vienna. The moderator was Dr. Anis H. Bajrektarević, Professor of International Law and Global Political Studies, while Antonije Pušić presented a short video-art performance titled “Bright Tomorrow”.
Ljubljana/Vienna, 18 March 2025
[1] IFIMES - International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies, based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, has a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council ECOSOC/UN in New York since 2018, and it is the publisher of the international scientific journal “European Perspectives”, link: https://www.europeanperspectives.org/en
