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A black-and-white photograph of the CSCE Paris Summit, showing a large conference room with delegates seated around a U-shaped table arrangement. The backdrop includes the text 'CSCE Sommet de Paris,' and the space is filled with officials, media personnel, and observers.

Paris Summit 1990

The Paris Summit marked a turning point in the history of the CSCE in the post-Cold War era. The participating States signed the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, adding an active operational structure to the OSCE role as a forum for negotiation and dialogue.

Date:
Location:
Paris
Series:
Summit meetings
Source:
Summits / Ministerial Councils

About

The institutionalization of the CSCE begins

To cope with the new challenges of the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, the process of CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe
institutionalization was accelerated.

The participating States decided that political consultations at the level of Heads of State (Summits) would be held every two years, and that ministerial-level councils would meet at least once a year. They agreed that high officials would meet occasionally as a Committee of Senior Officials.

To support these bodies, they called for the creation of a Secretariat, a Conflict Prevention Centre and an Office for Free Elections (later renamed the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, or ODIHR).

Signatories

34 Heads of State or Government met in Paris to shape a new Europe