Nyhedsbrev fra Ambassadør Andreas Nothelle, uge 45 og 47, 2015

Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 45, 2015
This week there were meetings of the Permanent Council (PC), the Forum for Security Co-operation, a Special
Event with the Contact Group with the Asian Partners for Co-operation, the Preparatory Committee (Prep-
Comm), the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), the Economic and Environmental
Committee and the Human Dimension Committee Meeting, as well as a full-day ambassadorial retreat in prepa-
ration for the upcoming Ministerial Council in Belgrade, which was reinforced by senior diplomats from the capi-
tals. Francesco Pagani participated in the PA’s election observation in Turkey and in the ODIHR Needs As-
sessment Mission in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The Permanent Council, in a Special Meeting, heard reports from the Head of the Special Monitoring Mission to
Ukraine (SMM), Amb. Apakan, and the Special Envoy of the Chairmanship in Ukraine, Amb. Sajdik, and debat-
ed them. Amb. Apakan reported about 576 monitors in Donbass presenting a 25 percent monitor increase over-
all in Ukraine, with a 60 percent increase in Donbass, underlining that the expansion would continue up to 1000
observers, and pointing to the importance of utilizing the latest technological advancements such as Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In looking ahead, he highlighted the need to increase cooperation with the UN and the
Ukrainian government, and the importance of removing the mines which claimed many casualties. The regular
PC heard the reports of the three Special Representatives on Tolerance Issues. Because of the Special PC,
Current Issues only debated the issue of Ukrainian citizens imprisoned In Russia as part of the Ukrainian agen-
da. During the debate about the reports by the Special Representatives on Tolerance, it became clear once
more that there is almost no coordination between them, and that reporting is a problem. Some participating
States had to react to reports that they had not seen before. There was another short discussion about the elec-
tions in Azerbaijan. Russia stated that ODIHR and the OSCE PA had refused to observe under a politicized
pretext. I replied referring to my previous PC statements, the restrictions imposed on the observation by the
ODIHR, which had led to the PA’s decision etc. I also said that the importance of applying the appropriate
methodology is demonstrated by the omission of essential parts of elections in the PACE statement.
The FSC approved the dates and venue of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Implementation Assessment Meeting next
year.
While some drafting of Ministerial Council Documents has started (at this late point), there is still much uncer-
tainty about a possible outcome of the Ministerial Council in Belgrade. The Chairmanship will follow the example
of the Swiss and sort out what they will take along to Belgrade at some later stage, probably a week before the
MC. Despite the intention of the Chairmanship to find out more about the positions of delegations, no explicit red
lines were mentioned during the retreat, since in the light of the little knowledge delegations have about draft,
most considered this to be “premature”. There are drafts or ideas for more than 20 texts, several of which will
have little chance of finding a consensus. Delegations will also enter into another drafting exercise on declara-
tions of general political nature, which are not supposed to be aiming at “the least common denominator and
clearly speak out on the violation of OSCE commitments that have led to the current major security crisis”. He
likelihood of achieving a consensus on this is of course very low. Some mentioned the danger that urgent busi-
ness – like achieving full and unimpeded access by the SMM to all parts of the Ukrainian territory, observing the
whole of the Russian-Ukrainian border, or looking into the situation of minorities in occupied Crimea – might get
lost in this drafting exercise.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
November 9, 2015
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2015-16
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 5
Offentligt


Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 47, 2015
This week there were meetings of the Permanent Council (PC), including a Special Meeting on
the occasion of the terrorist attacks in Paris, the Forum for Security Co-operation, the Contact
Group with the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation, the Preparatory Committee (Prep-
Comm), the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), the three topical Com-
mittees, the Group of Friends on Mediation, as well as a high number of other informal meetings,
in particular on drafts for the upcoming Ministerial Council Meeting in Belgrade. During the regu-
lar PC, PA President Kanerva addressed the Permanent Representatives of the participating
States, followed by a debate. This has been reported on the PA website.
The Permanent Council, after debating with President Kanerva and hearing a report by High
Commissioner on National Minorities Thors, adopted decisions on the extension of OSCE Field
Presences in ten countries. Kosovo and Turkmenistan do not need this extension. Kazakhstan
and Tajikistan are still outstanding. The PC also adopted decisions on the agenda and other or-
ganizational modalities, but failed to agree on invited organizations, because of disagreements
regarding the inclusion of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as a speaker on
equal footing with EU and NATO.
In the 80 minute debate on the President’s speech, eleven delegations representing at least 38
countries (28 for EU plus alignments) replied, all with – in part comprehensive – statements on
substantial issues. The main issues discussed were Ukraine and the PA’s renewed close part-
nership with the ODIHR, as well as migration and the PA’s contribution to Helsinki+40. The US
Delegation also payed tribute to the long and successful work of outgoing PA Secretary General
Oliver, welcomed incoming Roberto Montella, and commended cooperation with the Vienna Liai-
son Office.
In a Special Meeting, the PC debated the Paris attacks and adopted a Declaration. I referred to
the President’s statement issued the day after the attacks. In the Group of Friends on Mediation, I
outlined the PA’s activities regarding all phases of the Conflict Cycle.
In an informal meeting on a possible MC text on Ukraine, Russia made it clear that they will not
agree to a political text on the issue, while Ukraine and others refuse to have a text that purely
speaks about what the OSCE can do. The draft on Ukraine the Chair put on the table also con-
tained language on the PA, whereas I had to request such language for the draft on a (general)
Political Declaration. Both texts, however, are unlikely to be adopted, but might serve as a
Chairmanship’s summary. In general, Azerbaijan seems to be opposed to any language on the
PA in Ministerial Council drafts.
I hosted a lunch for the new ambassadors from France and Thailand. The French Ambassador
was interested in the possibilities of the PA to assist on the following three issues - facilitation of
internal dialogue in Ukraine in cooperation with the SMM, support in concrete projects to combat
Human Trafficking and on changing the Scales of Contributions.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
November 23, 2015
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2015-16
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 5
Offentligt