Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 37-39, 2017
During these weeks, although delegations were temporarily based in Warsaw in order to
participate in the Human Dimension Meeting, the PC and the Forum for Security Coopera-
tion (FSC) met. Also, a number of committees and other informal bodies and gatherings
have held meetings. Tim Knoblau, Leah Nodvin and I assisted the Election Observation in
Germany. Our office also saw three different visits from senior OSCE PA Officers: Presi-
dent Emeritus Kanerva in his capacity as Special Representative on Mediation, Senator
Allizard as new Special Representative on the Mediterranean, and OSCE PA Secretary
General Montella. The News from Copenhagen has reported about all three visits, which
had comprehensive programs with high numbers of relevant interlocutors from the PC
and the OSCE executive structures. Finally, PA President Muttonen addressed a meeting
of the
Parlia e taria s
for
Peace
at the UN.
The PC did not take any decisions. In addition to the long regular meeting with reports
from OSCE actors in Ukraine and the subsequent usual discussion, the PC held a special
meeting on violent extremism and radicalization that lead to Terrorism, in the presence of
the Chairman-in-Office. His Special Representative Neumann presented his report, which
was met with significant criticism by some Permanent Representatives. I delivered a
statement related to the
PA’s
new counter-terrorism committee.
During the regular PC, there was a remarkable controversy between several EU countries
and Ukraine about new Ukrainian legislation affecting national minorities in the country.
The other issue a little bit out of the ordinary was brought up by Spain and dealt with the
planned referendum in the Spanish Province of Catalonia.
The FSC devoted one of its meetings to the role of parliaments in the security sector, in
line with the Serbian FSC
Chair a ship’s
priorities. I made a statement on the positions
and the activities of the PA in that regard, congratulating the Chair for making the topic
one of its three priorities, as well as reiterating the
PA’s
support for the Code of Conduct.
I also hosted a working luncheon with the three recently arrived ambassadors from Ser-
bia, Sweden and the EU, introducing them to the work of the PA. All of them pledged to
be ready for close cooperation with the Assembly.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
September 29, 2017