OSCE, Alm.del - 2013-14 - Bilag 24: Nyhedsbrev fra Ambassadør Andreas Nothelle, uge 08, 2014

PC Brief Week 8, 2014During this week, there were meetings of the Permanent Council (PC), the Forum for Securi-ty Cooperation (FSC), the ambassadorial Working Group on Helsinki+40, the Working Groupon Cyber Security, Committee Meetings and the Austria-hosted Council of Europe-OSCEConference ‘Not for Sale – Joining Forces against Trafficking in Human Beings’.The PC was addressed by the UN High Commissioner on Refugees Antonio Guterres, fol-lowed by a debate about refugee problems in general and Syrian refugee crisis in particular.It also discussed, among other “Current Issues”, the situation in Ukraine. The Chairmanshiphas appointed Tim Guldimann as Special Representative for Ukraine. During the latter de-bate, I referred to the Press Release by PA President Krivokapic, and later I briefly reportedon the PA Winter Meeting. The FSC had a discussion with the Deputy Foreign Minister ofLibya about ‘Illicit trafficking of Armaments in the Mediterranean Region’. Many delegatesthen spoke in favor of Libya’s request to be accepted as a Mediterranean Partner for Coop-eration, while Russia continued to express serious doubts. The Maltese FSC Chairmanshipreported on this to the PC, asking it to treat Libya’s request as a matter of urgency.There is still no agreement on the 2014 draft Budget. The Chairmanship has announced thecomposition of the group of Friends that will support it in its consultations with participatingStates on the successor for ODIHR Director Lenarcic. It consists of the ambassadors of Ar-menia, Liechtenstein and Poland. Thus, the Chairmanship has not accepted the PA Presi-dent’s request to include the PA in this group.I (and the News from Copenhagen) have already reported about my statement in the Securi-ty Committee regarding the DCAF-study. In the meeting of the Working Group on Helsin-ki+40 the Chairmanship and the eight Coordinators presented their Work Program. Four ofthe Coordinators (Ireland, Finland, Austria, Turkey) referred - some extensively - to the needfor cooperation with the PA, and their meetings with PA representatives to that end. I pre-sented the PA’s Helsinki+40 project. The Chairman of the PC, Amb. Greminger, praised thePA for its ambitious project that, according to him, will contribute greatly to the process.The Working Group on Cyber Security consisted of a four-hour brainstorming session abouttechnical measures that could be taken in order to implement the voluntary “Initial Set ofConfidence Building Measures” agreed upon last year.The Conference on Trafficking discussed the evolution of this crime and the possibilities ofhow to best address it. The intention was to incorporate the expertise of non-governmentalorganizations in this debate and produce a joint Council of Europe/OSCE draft action plan.