Nyhedsbrev fra Ambassadør Andreas Nothelle, uge 47-50

Document Number Decision
MC.DEC/0001/16 Extension of the Mandate of the OSCE
Representative on Freedom of the
Media
MC.DEC/0002/16 OSCE Chairmanship in the Year 2018
MC.DEC/0003/16 OSCE's Role in the Governance of Large
Movements of Migrants and Refugees
MC.DEC/0004/16 Strengthening Good Governance and
Promoting Connectivity
MC.DEC/0005/16 OSCE Efforts Related to Reducing the
Risks of Conflict Stemming from the Use
of Information and Communication
Technologies
MC.DEC/0006/16 Enhancing the Use of Advance
Passenger Information
MC.DEC/0007/16 OSCE Chairmanship in the Year 2019
MC.DEC/0008/16 Time and Place of the Next Meeting of
the OSCE Ministerial Council
MC.DOC/0001/16 Declaration on Strengthening OSCE
Efforts to Prevent and Counter
Terrorism
MC.DOC/0002/16 Ministerial Statement on the
Negotiations on the Transdniestrian
Settlement Process in the "5+2" Format
MC.DOC/0003/16 Ministerial Declaration on OSCE
Assistance Projects in the Field of Small
Arms and Light Weapons and Stockpiles
of Conventional Ammunition
MC.DOC/0004/16 From Lisbon to Hamburg, Declaration
on the Twentieth Anniversary of the
OSCE Framework for Arms Control
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2016-17
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 7
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Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Weeks 49/50, 2016
For the first of these two weeks the Vienna OSCE Community moved to Hamburg on the occasion
of the OSCE Ministerial Council. During the meetings there, the committees and the PC debated
and negotiated on a number of draft texts. In addition, the PC took some decisions not related to
the texts. The Ministerial Council (MC) adopted texts in the First and Second Dimension of the
OSCE, but again none in the humanitarian (Third) Dimension. In parallel to the MC, the PA held its
Bureau Meeting, as reported in the News from Copenhagen. Francesco Pagani could not partici-
pate in the meetings, because he had to support the OSCE PA Election Observation Mission
(EOM) to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In addition, in Vienna, there were meetings
of the Permanent Council (PC), the Forum for Security Cooperation (FSC), and several other
committee meetings, as well as a Conference on Media Freedom Laws, a Conference on Intoler-
ance Against Christians, and an event “2016 International Migrants’ Day: Towards a Global Com-
pact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration”. During this second week, I also joined the EOM in
Skopje.
The highlights of the MC from a PA perspective were PA President Christine Muttonen’s address to
the ministers and the opening address of the Chairman-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-
Walter Steinmeier, in which he characterized the PA as the “democratic backbone” of the OSCE.
More than ever, the drafting taking place for the MC was the display of a situation that confronted
50+ participating States with Russia, and, occasionally, Armenia. The failure of the participating
States to adopt a political Declaration, the declaration on the crisis in and around Ukraine, the draft
decision on the Conflict Cycle and any Third Dimension text also meant that the language on the
PA that they had contained was not adopted (list of adopted documents attached).
The PC approved the agenda and modalities of the twenty-seventh Annual Implementation As-
sessment meeting (AIAM - 28 Feb-1 March 2017) and the timetable (!!) for the MC. More im-
portantly, however, it did not adopt the outstanding extensions of the mandates of the remaining
field presences (see my last report), nor the overdue 2017 Unified Budget. This means that – alt-
hough it was the last regular PC for this year, officially concluding the German Chairmanship –
there will most probably be a number of special meetings before the end of the year. Also, no pro-
gress has been made on the appointments for senior OSCE posts. Most probably next week the
procedure for the succession of Secretary General Zannier will be opened. Cooperation with the
PA was mentioned positively in the report by the Special Representative and Coordinator for Com-
bating Trafficking in Human Beings, in the briefing the ambassador of the former Yugoslav Repub-
lic of Macedonia gave on the elections in his country, and in the closing remarks by the Chairman
of the PC.
I wish you all Merry Christmas, independently from whether you celebrate it, and a Happy New
Year!
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
December 16, 2016
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2016-17
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 7
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Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Weeks 47/48, 2016
During these two weeks, there were many meetings of the Permanent Council (PC), the Forum for
Security Cooperation (FSC), the two Contact Groups with the Partners for Cooperation, the Preparato-
ry Committee (PrepCom), the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), the three
topical committees, and dozens of other informal meetings. Francesco Pagani accompanied PA Pres-
ident Muttonen to Istanbul for the NATO PA Annual Session.
The PC took a number of decisions, in particular on extensions of mandates of OSCE field presences.
The proposed extensions of the mandates of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan and of the OSCE Office in
Yerevan had to be postponed. The Centre in Bishkek and the Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan are
still pending. Two field presences, the Mission in Kosovo and the Centre in Ashgabat, run on an open-
ended mandate and do not need a decision. The other mandates were extended. In addition, the PC
decided some technical amendments to the financial regulations and decided that the concluding
meeting of the 25th Economic and Environmental Forum will be held from 6 to 8 September 2017 in
Prague. The PA was positively mentioned in the discussion with the Chairs of the three topical com-
mittees.
The PC also heard reports by the Chief Monitor of the OSCE SMM Ukraine, Ambassador Apakan, and
the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact
Group, Amb. Sajdik, on the latest developments in Ukraine. There is a very worrying increase in
cease-fire violations, the urgent need for a new commitment regarding the withdrawal of heavy weap-
ons, since the positive dynamic in this direction has been reversed in the past months. Although there
is some progress on individual practical issues, the prospects for the people in the affected areas
looks very dim, in particular in light of the beginning winter, the spreading of hostilities to new loca-
tions, the destruction of crucial infrastructure, difficulties in access to drinking water, and the difficult
passage at the crossing points.
As to the numerous informal negotiations regarding possible draft Ministerial Council (MC) Decisions,
there is little progress on controversial issues, although some texts contain long passages which could
be consensual. I attach again a list of “official” drafts, i.e. drafts that the Chairmanship has taken on
board. In addition, several delegations have proposed drafts, one of them (sexual exploitation of chil-
dren) is based on a PA resolution. As reported last time, some of the texts on the table contain lan-
guage on the role of the OSCE PA, but many of them are unlikely to succeed. This includes several
texts in the Human Dimension and a text on OSCE efforts addressing the Conflict Cycle, including
through mediation. Russia is now participating in the drafting of the latter, but has immediately re-
quested to cut the text on the PA very short. It has also requested to delete the reference to the PA in
the text on the crisis in and around Ukraine, to cut the PA-related text in the draft Political Declaration
very short, and to delete or dilute references to the PA made in Human Dimension texts.
I had the opportunity to host a working lunch for the new Turkish ambassador and the new ambassa-
dors from the Partner Countries Australia and Japan.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
December 2, 2016
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2016-17
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 7
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