Nyhedsbrev fra Ambassadør Andreas Nothelle, uge 4-7, 2016

Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 6/7, 2016
During these weeks there were routine meetings of the Permanent Council (PC), the
Forum for Security Co-operation, the Preparatory Committee (PrepComm), the Advisory
Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), the Security and the Human Dimen-
sion committees, other informal meetings, as well as a High Level Military Doctrine
Seminar and a Conference on Combating Intolerance against Muslims. In addition, I
spent two days in Warsaw in meetings held by SG Montella with ODIHR and the Polish
PA delegation.
The PC approved a decision on the extension of the mandate of the Special Monitoring
Mission to Ukraine (SMM) for another year. It also debated an address by the Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov and reports by the head of the
OSCE Mission to Serbia, as well as the three Chairs of the three topical committees,
and discussed the usual Current Issues.
Many delegations requested meetings with us in order to discuss issues pertinent to the
upcoming PA Winter Meeting, demonstrating a high interest from the governmental
side. In my absence, Marc Carillet also briefed the Permanent Council about the Meet-
ing. He also expressed condolences regarding the latest bomb blast in Ankara, referring
to a press release by President Kanerva.
The High Level Military Doctrine seminar managed to go beyond the usual exchanges
that take place on a weekly basis in the Forum for Security Co-opreation. Delegates
refrained from reading prepared statements, and participants from capitals engaged in
intensive exchanges. While the diverging narratives of the crisis in and around Ukraine
and the other conflicts in the OSCE provided a constant backdrop to the discussions,
the military-to-military dialogue showed its promise when tackling the many challenges
facing the OSCE in the politico-military sphere. This is related to the aspirations of many
participating States to re-issue and modernize the Vienna Document.
The visit to Warsaw has been covered in the News from Copenhagen. It also served as
an opportunity to explore closer cooperation with the ODIHR on issues outside election
observation, including a better coordination of the PA’s contributions to the annual Hu-
man Dimension Implementation Meeting.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
February 19, 2016
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2015-16
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 20
Offentligt


Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 4/5, 2016
During these weeks there were routine meetings of the Permanent Council (PC), the
Forum for Security Co-operation (new Dutch Chairmanship), the Preparatory Committee
(PrepComm), the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), the three
topical committees, other informal meetings, and the two-day “First preparatory meet-
ing” of the 24th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, in which OSCE PA Second
Committee Vice Chair Nilza de Sena (MP, Portugal) participated (the News from Co-
penhagen 597 reported about it). Nilza Sena also paid a visit the the Vienna Office.
Francesco Pagani accompanied the PA delegation on its visit to the Caucasus.
The PC debated the reports by Ambassadors Sajdik and Apakan on the Situation in
Eastern Ukraine. Amb. Sajdik stated that - although the relations between Ukraine and
Russia have further deteriorated and certain heavy weapons on both sides have not
been withdrawn, a slight improvement in other fields can be reported since September.
The number of civilian deaths has decreased and several thousand detainees were re-
leased (the release of further imprisoned persons, however, has stalled since autumn).
Moreover, progress has been made in de-mining and humanitarian aid, and pensioners
are able to get access to the places from which they receive their pensions. Amb. Apa-
kan highlighted the increase in ceasefire violations since the beginning of December,
with both sides moving forward to the contact line to seize control of villages not under
the control of the government or separatists in the last year. The risk remains high, and
the situation volatile and unpredictable due to a lack of trust at all levels between both
sides. The withdrawal of heavy weapons has only been partial, and it is clear that these
weapons are not permanently stored. The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) continues
to observe the use of weapons of all calibers.
The SMM’s mandate will expire on March 31, 2016. Its proposed budget for the coming
12 months is EUR 99.3 million. The budget proposal represents a 12 per cent increase
compared to 2015-16. It particularly aims at stabilizing the number of monitors at 800.
The PC also debated the regular report by the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo,
which gave an account on the current unrest in the country and inside the Kosovo As-
sembly. Otherwise, all the meetings during these weeks were routine.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
February 8, 2016
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2015-16
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 20
Offentligt