The Albanian Chairmanship year was momentous for the OSCE in many respects. The year 2020 marked the 45th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and the 30th anniversary of the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, but it was also characterized by a series of new and unprecedented challenges.

Albania opened the year by noting that, as a small state that has undergone a major transition, it had drawn outsized strength and stability from being part of this values-based security community. Through the Chairmanship, it sought to give back to the Organization. The programme set by the Albanian OSCE 2020 Chairmanship was based on three key objectives:

Making a difference on the ground;ƒImplementing our commitments together;ƒBuilding stability through dialogue.
The Chairmanship prioritized key issues that the OSCE community continues to face: be it military confrontation, the malign use of information and communication technology, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, violent extremism and radicalization, gender equality or the blurred line between state and non-state activity.

But 2020 will be best remembered for other unpredicted developments, including the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, which posed new tests for our governments, communities and the work of the Organization, including the mid-year leadership vacuum in the OSCE executive structures, the situation in Belarus following the presidential election and the outburst of heavy fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh context. These events placed new pressures on the daily work of the OSCE throughout 2020, which the Chairmanship endeavoured to overcome.

In the face of this adversity, the Albanian Chairmanship effectively delivered a suite of new deliverables, maintained the OSCE’s operational activities amid the disruption caused by COVID-19 and appointed new management for the Organization.

The OSCE has proven its ability to make a difference on the ground, be it through engaging in all levels of the conflict cycle, observing elections or supporting reforms. The Albanian Chairmanship aimed to promote the work of the OSCE where it is closest to the people. The Chairmanship upheld its priority of supporting conflict resolution efforts with respect to Ukraine. The timely extension of the mandate and adoption of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) budget in March, the first major negotiation accomplished by the Chairmanship, led to a landmark 8 per cent budget increase. By forging consensus around a solid budget for the OSCE’s flagship operation, especially amid the pandemic, Albania held true to its commitment to support the work of some 1,300

OSCE staff on the ground. The additional resources, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), bolstered remote monitoring, as there was a partial staff reduction during the pandemic; this was a critical enabling factor in the SMM’s monitoring and reporting capabilities in eastern Ukraine.

Seven years into the conflict, 2020 saw an unprecedented and highly needed largely holding ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, after the measures to strengthen it, agreed in the TCG, took effect on 27 July. Some days the SMM recorded no ceasefire violations at all. For almost four months, the SMM registered no civilian casualties or damage to infrastructure from shelling or gunfire. The Chairmanship followed up on the situation and urged compliance with the terms of the ceasefire.

Albania officially took over the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on January 1, 2020.