Finland Takes Over OSCE Chairmanship in 2025: Focus on Resilience and Support for Ukraine
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen outlined Finland's priorities for the OSCE Chairmanship in 2025 to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna. Finland's approach is based on three central pillars: resilience, support for Ukraine and upholding OSCE principles that have been violated by Russia's actions. This comes at a time when the European security architecture is under severe pressure.
In her remarks to the Permanent Council, Finland's Foreign Affairs Minister Elina Valtonen outlined the country's priorities as the incoming OSCE Chair-in-Office for 2025. / Picture: © OSCE / ID 576549, (CC BY-ND 4.0)
According to Valtonen, the resilience of the member states and the OSCE itself is crucial. The ability to respond to and recover from crises is of great importance in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine. Finland has promised to put support for Ukraine at the center of its work, using the OSCE's tools to promote human rights and reconstruction. These priorities are reflected in the close cooperation with existing OSCE institutions, such as the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM).
International reactions
The US reiterated its full support for Finland's agenda and praised its commitment to supporting Ukraine as it continues to fight against Russian aggression. Washington sees Finland's role as key in multilateral diplomacy to ensure European stability.
Malta, the current OSCE Chairmanship, welcomed Finland's plans to strengthen the organization's resilience. The Maltese government emphasized the importance of working together to address challenges such as budget issues and leadership positions within the OSCE.
The United Kingdom was also positive and supported Finland's focus on Ukraine and the need to modernize the OSCE and make it more innovative. London also highlighted the importance of the Helsinki Final Act, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025 and saw it as a symbolic opportunity to strengthen the principles of the OSCE.
Germany and France strongly supported Finland's emphasis on compliance with OSCE principles. Both countries see the strengthening of multilateral forums as crucial to addressing the growing security challenges. In a climate characterized by uncertainty, the OSCE remains one of the few platforms that enables dialogue with Russia, even if this is made more difficult by the ongoing tensions. Switzerland, which is also heavily involved in multilateral institutions, welcomed Finland's emphasis on the OSCE's neutrality and praised the planned steps to promote dialog between the nations.
Ukraine and the OSCE
Ukraine strongly supports Finland's planned OSCE Chairmanship in 2025, as Ukraine occupies a central role in Finland's priorities. Ukraine particularly welcomes the OSCE's continued support in the fight against Russian aggression. Finland has already announced that support for Ukraine, both humanitarian and political, will take center stage. The Ukrainian government sees this as crucial for long-term security and stability in the region.
The Finnish Chairmanship will help to strengthen Ukraine's resilience, in particular through the use of OSCE instruments to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Ukraine. The OSCE provides a platform for international support, and Kyiv is counting on Finland to further develop this focus, particularly concerning securing Ukraine's territorial integrity and international condemnation of Russian aggression.
Ukraine also expects the OSCE, under Finland's chairmanship, to continue to take action to hold Russia accountable for its violations of international law and to intensify missions to Ukraine to support reconstruction and monitoring of human rights violations. Russia has repeatedly expressed its skepticism towards the OSCE and its role in the European security architecture, especially after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Russia and Finland's chairmanship in 2025
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has increasingly viewed the OSCE as an instrument of Western interests. In recent years, Russia has repeatedly criticized the OSCE for not implementing its basic principles, such as non-interference in internal affairs and the security interests of all member states, in a balanced manner. Russia has also questioned the OSCE missions and their monitoring work in conflict areas, particularly in Ukraine, claiming that the missions serve Western political goals.
Russia believes that the OSCE is increasingly less of a forum for open dialog and is instead dominated by Western states that neglect Russia's security interests. At the same time, Moscow calls for a return to the principles of “undivided security” and criticizes the fact that the OSCE and other international organizations have ignored Russia's security concerns, for example about NATO enlargement.
Concerning Finland's upcoming chairmanship, Russia presumably has similar reservations, as Finland has announced that it will focus on supporting Ukraine. Russian representatives may see this as further partisanship against their interests and likely have concerns that Finland's leadership will further steer the OSCE towards a platform that marginalizes Russian positions. This skepticism has also been expressed in various Russian media outlets and by political analysts in Russia, who argue that the OSCE increasingly lacks trust as a neutral mediator in international conflicts.
Assessment by think tanks
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) pointed out that Finland's chairmanship provides an opportunity to rethink the role of the OSCE in a fragmented security landscape. In particular, the “Helsinki spirit” of 1975 could be revitalized by reforming the OSCE to maintain its relevance. It is debated whether Russia should continue to play a role in decision-making or whether a “consensus minus one” solution would be possible to achieve progress while Moscow's role remains limited.
Finland's Chairmanship in 2025 comes at a crucial time for Europe and will have a significant impact on the development of the OSCE as a platform for peace and security. Finland's full Action Plan will be published in January 2025.