Nyhedsbrev fra Ambassadør Andreas Nothelle, uge 07, 2014

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Security Committee Meeting Monday, 17 February 2014
Talking points of Amb. Andreas Nothelle, OSCE PA Special Representative
Thank you, Chair.
Welcome to the representatives of DCAF in this meeting.
Security Sector Governance Reform has been and will always be one of the Parliamentary Assem-
bly’s priority concerns. The PA has passed numerous recommendations addressing all related is-
sues, and we have cooperated closely with the Conflict Prevention Center, the Field Presences and
others in order to strengthen security sector governance. These recommendations are directly
addressed to the participating States and to the executive structures of the OSCE. We have also
been directly involved in projects of assistance to parliaments of participating States and regional
awareness-raising and training projects of the field presences.
We therefore value the efforts of the Swiss Chairmanship and of DCAF to reinvigorate the OSCE’s
work in this area. We have a history of cooperation with the DCAF, which we plan to continue dur-
ing this year’s Autumn Session in Geneva. Although these are not the only items we are working
on in the first dimension, we have consistently focused on parliamentary oversight, the Code of
Conduct and other means of strengthening democratic governance in the security sector. In addi-
tion, we have always stressed the cross-dimensional character of this work, by underlining the
importance of human rights protection in all security operations. Beyond the traditional work with
the military and the police, we have placed particular emphasis on issues related to the work of
the intelligence community and the private sector. Both pose considerable challenges to oversight
and democracy in general because of the lack of transparency that their work entails. All this and
more will figure on the PA’s agenda at our upcoming Annual Session end of June this year.
In light of all this, we continue to be amazed by some methodological flaws of the study presented
today. I understand that it was the Chairmanship’s intention, when commissioning this study, to
list strategic deficiencies, weaknesses and other problems of the OSCE’s project work, and I under-
stand that these weaknesses are to be found predominantly in those structures that report to the
Permanent Council. We are, however, deeply disappointed that an important study that directly
addresses issues of democratic governance was undertaken in total and deliberate exclusion of
the PA. We are further surprised by the lack of diligence displayed by the authors when they claim
that the PA is only engaged in inter-parliamentary dialogue, and that it is not involved in opera-
tional activities.
Only a short look at our history and our Rules of Procedure would already have avoided this mis-
take. Our Rules of Procedure determine what the purpose of our work is. The rules of the OSCE’s
parliamentary institution have been mandated by the Heads of States and Governments at their
Paris Summit. Listed among the objectives of the PA’s work are the following:
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“develop and promote mechanisms for the prevention and resolution of conflicts;
(d) support the strengthening and consolidation of democratic institutions in the OSCE
participating States;
(e) contribute to the development of the institutional structures of the OSCE and of rela-
tions and co-operation between the existing OSCE institutions.”
The DCAF concludes that most of the activities of executive structures consist of meetings aiming
at awareness-raising. It then states that the PA is the main entity involved in awareness-raising. In
other words, as far as this activity is concerned, we are doing much the same as the rest of the
OSCE. It is therefore contradictory for the authors to refuse to include the PA in the findings based
on the assumption that the PA is only an internal talk shop. I have also heard a lot about the need
to include Civil Society in the OSCE's work on these issues. I would strongly suggest starting by in-
cluding the elected representatives of our citizens.
In the course of this project 170 persons were interviewed and several workshops held in Vienna. I
do not think it is asking for too much for researchers to verify such a radical hypothesis as claiming
that MPs are only talking to themselves by at least looking into some of the PA’s documents and
by seeking to get in touch with me. We also believe that those from the Secretariat involved in
designing and assisting this study, beginning with the Secretary General, should have guided the
authors towards an inclusive approach. We had a vigorous internal discussion about this during
our Winter Meeting.
We hope that in future we will continue our cooperation in a fruitful manner and in avoidance of
further misunderstandings of this nature.


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Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 7, 2014
As this week was host to the Winter Meeting, there were only a limited number of diplomatic activities
held within the OSCE. There was no meeting of the Permanent Council (PC), though the Forum for Se-
curity Cooperation (FSC) and the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACFM) convened
as usual. In addition, there was an informal meeting on the Comprehensive Conventional Ammunition
Stockpile Management Program in the Republic of Moldova. The FSC debated examples of national
practices for combatting illicit maritime trafficking of small arms and light weapons (SALW) from France,
as well as the aforementioned comprehensive conventional ammunition stockpile management from
Moldova.
More importantly, there was intensive interaction by the PA with the governmental side, although the
Swiss chairmanship was not represented at the ministerial level. The Chairman of the PC, Amb. Thomas
Greminger, addressed questions from the floor, the three Chairs of the three PC committees briefed the
three PA committees, and OSCE Secretary General Amb. Zannier spoke to the joint committee session.
During his briefing, Amb. Zannier underlined his conviction that the PA is – and has always been – one
of the OSCE’s most important institutions, as described in the Istanbul Summit Declaration. In the first
committee, there was a panel on the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Affairs with briefings by
the Director of the Conflict Prevention Center, Amb. Kobieracki, and representatives from the Chairman-
ship and the FSC.
In addition, a considerable number of meetings were held on the sidelines of the conference. The Presi-
dent, the Committee Chairs, Gender Representative Fry, Vice-President Kanerva and PA SG Oliver all
met with relevant interlocutors from the governmental side. In particular, there was a meeting chaired by
the President with the chairs of the PA and the PC committees, and one of the PC’s coordinators for the
Helsinki+40 process, Irish Amb. McDonagh, organized a working dinner between President Krivokapic,
Vice President Kanerva, SG Oliver, Maria Chepurina, and myself, during which we discussed the project
with a number of ambassadors, including representatives from the EU, US and Russia.
SG Oliver and I had another side meeting with the Chairman of the PC where we discussed the Chair-
manship-commissioned study on Security Sector Governance, conducted by the Geneva Center for the
Democratic Control of the Armed Forces (DCAF) and carried out in close cooperation with the OSCE
Secretariat. The PA was excluded from this study as the authors, on the basis of false assertions that the
PA is for “inter-parliamentary dialogue only” and does not contribute to the organizational work of the
OSCE, opted not to conduct the PA for input. SG Oliver requested the study, which is based on these
inaccurate assumptions, be corrected. He raised this issue during his report at the joint session of the
committees, and I spoke about it this Monday during the Security Committee meeting.
President Krivokapic and SG Oliver also reiterated their request for the Chairmanship to include me in
the Group of Friends that will assist in conducting the consultations for finding a successor to departing
ODIHR Director Lenarčič. The four candidates will present themselves at hearings on March 4 and 5.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador, February 18, 2014
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