The OSCE is the first organisation to have received the Munich Security Conference award. Serbian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ivica Dacic, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier together with the OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier received the Ewald von Kleist Award – a silver medal with the inscription "Frieden durch Dialog" (Peace through Dialogue) – in a ceremony hosted by the Minister-President of Bavaria Horst Seehofer. Serbia, Switzerland (OSCE Chair in 2014) and Germany (OSCE Chair in 2016), together known as the 'Troika', are currently responsible for steering the OSCE.
Following the laudatio given by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his acceptance speech Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter stressed the role of the OSCE as a bridge-builder, saying the OSCE stood for shared dialogue, shared commitment and shared efforts to find solutions to challenges that concern everyone. "To honour the OSCE is to honour an idea – the idea of security as a shared and comprehensive project of all," said the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and 2014 OSCE Chairperson-in Office. He went on to say that, at a time when as a consequence of the Ukraine crisis the European security was being called into question, political leadership, responsibility and unfailing commitment to maintain dialogue were demanded – principles that were founded on the OSCE's understanding of security as a common project and that must continue to be upheld in the future. He added that to ensure that the OSCE can both safeguard and enhance its capacity to act, it must be willing to undergo reform. He concluded his speech saying: "To accept this award is to thank the OSCE and its idea of peace and security, its principles and its people, and to offer it lasting support."
The Ewald von Kleist Award, named after the founder of the Munich Security Conference who headed the organisation for many years, has honoured special contributions to peace and conflict resolution since 2009. Previous recipients include the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (2009), the former EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana (2010), as well as former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who received the award jointly in 2014.
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