This presentation will introduce the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, explaining its operation and providing an overview of its use, particularly focusing on the four instances related to Russia's current war of aggression against Ukraine. It will then highlight key features of the Moscow Mechanism that make it a unique tool for crisis management.

Note: This event is open to the public and free to attend online via Microsoft Teams. A link to join will be sent to registered attendees 48 hours before the event.

Speaker: Professor Veronika Bílková

Prof. Veronika Bílková is the head of the Department of International Law at the Faculty of Law of the Charles University in Prague and senior researcher in the Centre for International Law at the Institute of International Relations, Prague (Czech Republic). She is also the head of the University Centre for Conflict and Post-Conflict Studies in Prague. She is member and vice-president of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (since 2010) and member of the Management Board of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (since 2020). She was member of four expert missions on Ukraine established under the OSCE Moscow Mechanism in 2022-2024. Her fields of research include the use of force, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international criminal law and the fight against terrorism. She has published extensively in Czech, English and French.

Chair: Dr Maria Varaki

Dr. Maria Varaki is Lecturer in International Law in the War Studies Department, King's College London. Before moving to London she held research positions with the Erik Castren Institute of International Law and Human Rights in Helsinki and the Law Faculty of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She was also an Assistant Professor in International Law at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. She holds a PhD in International Law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights in Galway, Ireland and two LLM degrees in International and Comparative Law, from Tulane University and from New York University, School of Law. Currently she is a Research Associate on the Three Generations of Digital Human Rights, ERC project, 2023-2028, Hebrew University, Faculty of Law.