Useful dinosaurus of Europe

It looks like dinosaurus of European politics. OSCE, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, seems to be out of fashion when almost all European countries reguraly organise free and fair elections, when respect to human and civic rights is widespread.
But key is in the word "almost". I have realised that again while reading interview with Slovak minister of culture Marek Madaric in Slovak daily Hospodarske noviny (sister newspaper of my own Czech HN). His government pushed through parliament new law about print media which, according to Slovak publishers and OSCE expertize restricts freedom of expression. "Fact that OSCE is critical towards new print law is not surprising for me, because there were more different views in discussions with them (and our government)," said minister.
Therefore, this has struck me a lot. During last two years one could hear about OSCE quarrelling with somebody only at times of serious crisis. Russia refused OSCE election monitors, Belorussia considers OSCE as arm of Western subversion. And there was a big fuss last year ahead of parliamentary elections in Poland, when former Czech president Vaclav Havel had recommended OSCE election monitors to watch Polish elections because of hard two years of conservative-nationalistic rule. Polish prime minister at that time, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, strongly refused and spoke about external meddling into internal affairs. Irony is that OSCE monitoring election branch, ODIHR, is seated in Warsaw.
To be advised and monitored by OSCE was one of powerful instruments how to organize elections in postwar Balkans during nineties. It is regular but more symbolical tool for elections in Western countries as well as in the US. It is no shame to be monitored, meanwhile some members, namely Russia, misused OSCE mechanism. Moscow defense of Russian minorities in Baltic states was example of that.
But open, democratic and free society should not have any problems with monitoring media or elections. In postcommunist states positive OSCE assessment could help to raise credentials for such countries in transition. Only countries with authoritarian tendencies or rulers such are Belarussia, Russia or Kazachstan are constatly defending themselves against any cooperation with outside world. That was the reason why I was afraid of words of Slovakian minister. It is not that one cannot disagree with international organisation, but because OSCE is kind of last check, last resort to discuss such normalities like freedom of expression. After that comes international isolation, sanctions, bad headlines in international media, wary investors - simply problems and exclusion from family or normal European nations. Slovaks had already experienced it during nineties, during semiauthoritarian rule of Vladimir Meciar.