OSCE finally looks into the air

The OSCE is about to investigate one of the crucial channels of illicit arms trade: the air. Some airports in central and eastern Europe, e.g. Bratislava, but also in the Arabian hemisphere, e.g. Sharjah, have formerly been well-known hubs for armstraders, particularly from Russia.

Today (December 4th, 2006), the Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, has called for a wide range of organizations and companies to attend a special meeting, early next year, to work on ways to fight the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons by air.

"Certain progress has been made on some subjects such as small arms and light weapons," Minister De Gucht said according to an OSCE press release, referring to military aspects of security. But still, the proliferation of small arms poses a serious threat to human security. According to the OSCE small arms kill more than half a million people a year, or 1,400 each day.

Near some of the airports in the regions, small specialized airlines have settled, using lax regulation for air cargo shipment, particularly concerning transit routes. Secret services of smaller central European countries do not see themselves capable of controlling the routes of these smaller air companies. And air control authorities in some of the target countries lack finances to efficiently control where the cargo is finally going to.