The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic & International Security

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic & International Security is delighted to invite you to attend our inaugural event at 5pm on Monday 2nd February 2009 in the Grand Committee Room, House of Commons. The speaker will be Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Secretary General of the OSCE.



Please RSVP to kimberley.trewhitt@transatlanticsecurity.org.

"The Security Challenges of Wider Europe: The View from the OSCE"

Speaker: Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut,
Secretary General of the OSCE


2 February 2009, 5PM, Grand Committee Room, House of Commons

To attend, please RSVP to: kimberley.trewhitt@transatlanticsecurity.org



Despite Europe's relative calm, there are still numerous security challenges facing us in the 21st Century. Much of these stem from the expansion of democratic space into what has been termed 'Wider Europe', with the resultant tensions as seemingly different worldviews come into contact having provoked several international incidents. With the advent of a new administration in Washington, new opportunities have emerged for Transatlantic co-operation in responding to these security challenges. But it is also true that differing concepts of security and democratic governance in the Euro-Atlantic area continue to raise questions about the future development of the Wider Europe model.



By kind invitation of Gisela Stuart, MP, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic and International Security is pleased to invite you to a discussion with Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut , Secretary General of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE). As the world's largest regional security organisation, with 56 states in Europe, America, and Asia, the OSCE offers a forum for political negotiations and decision-making in the fields of early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation, and puts the political will of the participating states into practice through its unique network of field missions.

Ambassador de Brichambaut will address how the current global situation creates security challenges for Europe and the OSCE and what impact the OSCE has on Euro-Atlantic security. He will also discuss the current debates within the OSCE over the concepts of security and democratic governance.

Biography

Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut of France took up his post as Secretary General of the OSCE in June 2005. He had previously held a number of senior positions in the French administration, as well as in international organizations as a member of the Conseil d'Etat.

Ambassador de Brichambaut started his career at the Conseil d'Etat, first as an administrative judge, later as Conseiller d'Etat. In 1978, he was posted to New York to work as Special Assistant to the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for International Economic and Social Affairs.

He returned to Paris in 1981, where he became an adviser to French Foreign Minister Claude Cheysson. In 1983 and 1984, he was Chief of Staff to Roland Dumas, then Minister of European Affairs. When Mr Dumas became Foreign Minister, Ambassador de Brichambaut continued to serve as his Chief of Staff. In 1986, he moved to New York, as Cultural Counsellor for the French Embassy, returning to Paris in 1988 as Principal Adviser to Defence Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement.

From 1991 to 1994, Ambassador de Brichambaut represented France as Head of Delegation at the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in Vienna, which in due course became the OSCE. From 1994 to 1998, he headed the French Foreign Ministry's Legal Division. His most recent post prior to his appointment as OSCE Secretary General was as Director for Strategic Affairs at the French Defence Ministry from 1998.

APPG Officers

Chair
Mrs Gisela Stuart MP

Vice Chairs
Mr Patrick Mercer MP
Mr Paul Keetch MP

Treasurer
Mr David Ruffley MP

Secretary
Mr Derek Twigg MP