The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has marked this year the 25th anniversary of the OSCE’s Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, 25th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances to Ukraine (both pacts adopted at the OSCE’s 1994 Budapest Summit), as well as the 20th anniversary of the Charter for European Security, the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Adapted Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty), and the 20th anniversary of Russia’s commitments to withdraw its forces from Georgia and Moldova (all three pacts adopted at the OSCE’s Istanbul Summit).
Russia has turned all these pacts into dead letters in Europe’s East. They are also epitaphs to cooperative security doctrines.