Government officials study border delimitation and demarcation at the OSCE Border Management Staff College

Belarus–Lithuania border 2013

DUSHANBE, 18 April 2014 – A week-long course on border delimitation and demarcation concluded at the OSCE Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe today.

Twenty-five representatives of national border agencies and ministries of foreign affairs from ten OSCE participating States (Belarus, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan and Turkey) and four Partners for Co-operation (Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia) had the opportunity to share and discuss best practices and problems.

The course familiarized participants with border delimitation and demarcation terminology, the international legal framework, the role and mandate of boundary commissions, relevant technological tools, negotiation and facilitation techniques and specific experiences from across the OSCE region.

“Delimitation and demarcation is a significant aspect of conflict prevention. Better knowledge of this subject increases the capacity of the governments of OSCE participating States and their Partners to solve problems and better manage their borders. This issue is high on the agenda of international organizations, as it has direct implications for people’s lives in border areas and for peace and stability at borders,” said Henryk Raczkowski, Director of the OSCE Border Management Staff College.

“Our lectures focused on concrete examples of problem solving and main principles and methods for conducting successful negotiations. We reviewed several situations, identifying the roots of problems and analysing ways to define appropriate and mutually advantageous solutions. All sessions were followed by discussions focused on different legislative, technical and normative aspects as well as skills to maintain successful negotiations,” added Zenonas Kumetaitis, the Deputy Director of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Eastern Neighbourhood Policy Department and the leading expert of the course.