ABSTRACT
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks against the US, the fi ght against terrorism has become a priority also among the activities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The problem of terrorism, however, was already a concern for the States participating in the kick-off phase of the pan-European cooperation process – we are referring here to the diplomatic exercise known as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) that subsequently gave rise to the OSCE.2 In fact,
the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, while defi ning the principles governing the relations among CSCE States, indicated – within the context of the Sixth Principle relating to non-intervention in internal affairs – that participating States would have to refrain, among other things, from providing ‘direct or indirect assistance to terrorist activities, or to subversive or other activities directed towards the violent overthrow of the regime of another participating State’.3
