Nyhedsbrev fra Ambassadør Andreas Nothelle, uge 42, 2015

Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 42, 2015
This week there were meetings of the Permanent Council (PC), Forum for Security Co-operation
(FSC), the Contact Group with the Asian Partners for Co-operation, the Preparatory Committee
(PrepComm), the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), the Human Dimension
Committee, the informal ambassadorial Helsinki + 40 Working Group on the future of H+40 Process,
a Helsinki +40 meeting on strengthening inter-institutional relations and relations with other interna-
tional organizations and on reform, as well as a two-day technical expert meeting of the Informal
Working Group on PC decision 1039 (cyber-security).
The Permanent Council had a routine agenda (reports by the Head of the OSCE Mission in Moldova
and the Chairs of the three PC committees). Under “Current Issues”, there was another discussion on
the conflict in and around Ukraine, supplemented by an additional discussion under “Any Other
Business” on the report by the expert commission on the downing of the Malaysian Airline Flight
over Eastern Ukraine. These discussions triggered the usual controversial statements, but they also
indicated that the relative calm in Eastern Ukraine has also had an effect on the tone in which these
discussions are held. To some extent, the same was true for the debate about the elections in Bela-
rus, a point raised by Belarus. Russia used the opportunity to reiterate its calls for a reform of the
ODIHR work, while statements by Western countries contained balanced criticism. There was also a
general debate on capital punishment, raised by the EU, with a clear condemnation of the practice by
some delegates, especially the Swiss. Before the meeting opened, there was a round of statements
condemning the bomb attacks on a demonstration in Ankara. I reiterated the Press Release by Presi-
dent Kanerva, expressing condolences on the PA’s behalf.
The informal ambassadorial Working Group on Helsinki+40 discussed the future of the Process and
how this could be dealt with during the upcoming Ministerial Council in Belgrade. Most participants
expressed the opinion that the process was less productive than envisaged, not least because of the
Ukraine crisis. The Swedish ambassador stated that instead of getting “Helsinki Plus” the OSCE had
gotten “Helsinki Minus”, and now it should be a priority to get back to Helsinki Simple. There was,
however, also agreement that - despite the problems - the process had been useful as it had offered
additional informal opportunities for dialogue, and because the discussions had given some food for
new perspectives. A continuation, which was seen as necessary by many because of many issues
including that of increasing the OSCE’s effectiveness, would have to preserve the flexibility of the
process and should be determined by the incoming German Chairmanship. One of the Helsinki+40
Coordinators, the Ambassador of Ireland, has proposed three Ministerial Draft Decisions, one on the
budget process, another one in cooperation with other international organizations and a third one
on inter-institutional cooperation within the OSCE. The latter makes explicit reference to the in-
volvement of the PA Secretary General in the coordination of the work of the heads of institutions,
which I welcomed.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
October 16, 2015
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2015-16
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 2
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