Prevention is not very sexy: A conversation with Knut Vollebaek

This article is part of the Special Issue on “The OSCE at 50: Reflections on security, cooperation and human rights”, published on a rolling basis between July and November 2025. The Special Issue was curated and edited Walter Kemp and Christian Strohal, Security and Human Rights Monitor Editorial Board members and guest editors-in chief.

Abstract

Knut Vollebaek was Foreign Minister when Norway chaired the OSCE in 1999, he
was a leading member of the Panel of Experts on OSCE reform in 2004/5 and was
High Commissioner on National Minorities from 2007 to 2010. In this interview with Walter Kemp, he reflects on these roles as well as topics including quiet diplomacy, reform of the
European security order, and the possibility of Norway chairing the OSCE again in the future.

DOI: 1058866/CGGI9860