OSCE, Alm.del - 2012-13 - Bilag 15: Nyhedsbrev fra Ambassadør Andreas Nothelle, uge 4, 2013

PC Brief Week 4, 2013The second working week in Vienna was rather uneventful with meetings of the PC, theFSC (opening of the Liechtenstein FSC Chairmanship), the Security Committee and theEconomic and Environmental Committee Meeting.There was also the so-called “Hour with the Secretary General”, an informal gathering ofambassadors chaired by Amb. Zannier, in which he briefs Permanent Representativesabout his ideas for the work of the OSCE and the Secretariat. This time he focused on the“Security Days” that he had introduced last year and that he wants to hold three times in2013. The next meeting in March should focus on conventional arms control, the two oth-ers (one of them preceding the Annual Security Review Conference – ASRC) on Afghani-stan and on reconciliation. The meeting also included a short discussion about further ef-forts to include the youth in the OSCE’s efforts to raise its visibility.On the margins of the meetings, I continue to hear many remarks about the President’sdeclaration that the Cooperation Agreement with the ODIHR is inoperable. In this context,many ambassadors demonstrate that they are uninformed - partly because ODIHR feedsthem with conflicting information and they believe their colleagues rather than politicians,partly because they fail to understand how an election observation mission operates. Mostof them openly reject any form of substantial leadership by PA members.In this context, participants also spoke about last year’s unfinished business: The UnifiedBudget for 2013 has still not been approved, putting a limit on new ideas. It has been re-ported that some staff in the field have already started looking for other employment pos-sibilities, impacting negatively on the general working atmosphere. Russia is requesting afurther cut in ODIHR’s budget. Three planned meetings of the ACMF have already beencancelled.The two main “Current Issues” in the Permanent Council were the 50thAnniversary of theFrench-German Friendship Treaty (“Elysée Treaty”) and the Martin Luther King Day. Theanniversary led to contemplations about the German-French reconciliation as a possiblerole model for others in the OSCE area. The US statement on Martin Luther King Jr. Daydeplored the amount of racial hatred present throughout the OSCE area. I reminded thePermanent Representatives of the PA’s Monaco resolution on discrimination of people ofAfrican origin.

Special Representative