Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 11, 2015
This week there were two meetings of the Permanent Council (PC) as well as meetings of the Forum
for Security Cooperation (FSC), the Contact Group with the Asian Partners, the Preparatory Commit-
tee (PrepComm), the Human Dimension Committee, the Advisory Committee on Management and
Finance (ACMF) and full day informal meetings on both Cyber Security and on the situation in the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (mission, secretariat and institutions).
The PC adopted a decision extending the mandate of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to
Ukraine for one year until the end of March 2016. The SMM will have access to resources amounting
to 88,7 Million Euros, making it by far the most expensive OSCE field operation currently deployed. In
comparison, the 2015 Unified Budget (excluding the SMM) amounts to 141 Million Euros and the sec-
ond largest OSCE field operation after the SMM is the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, with a budget of
18,9 Million Euros. 65 Million of the total amount will be assessed based on existing scales of contri-
butions, 20 Million will be provided by participating States on a voluntary (“extra-budgetary”) basis.
The remainder will be financed from unspent funds. Although the SMM has had difficulties recruiting
and training the mandated 500 monitors, the new mandate foresees, under certain conditions, the
possibility for the Chief Monitor to request the deployment of up to 1000 monitors. The PC also ap-
proved an extension of the deployment of OSCE Observers to two Russian Checkpoints on the Rus-
sian-Ukrainian Border for an additional three months. There was also a debate about how free SMM
monitors are to perform their task, since they are prevented from going to specific places in the coun-
try, as security guarantees from separatists are not always granted. The SMM also detailed incidents
with Ukrainian armed forces, where they were not granted access and asked for passports and na-
tionality details. Western countries made clear, in a number of interpretative statements, that the sep-
aratists and Russia are obliged to grant the mission access to all parts of the country, including Cri-
mea. Russia regretted that the PC did not accept a Serbian proposal for a declaration repeating Unit-
ed Nations Security Resolution 2202 on the package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk
Agreements. The crucial point is about the order in which political and military steps will be taken.
Finally, the PC approved the extension of the terms of References of the Audit Committee until 31
December 2017. The Special PC was addressed by the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Nalbandian,
who made a number of pointed remarks regarding Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia’s relationship with
Turkey, prompting sharp replies from the representatives of Azerbaijan and Turkey. There was also a
debate with the Chairman of the Council of Europe Council of Ministers and the Foreign Minister of
Belgium, Reynders, about cooperation between his organization and the OSCE. ODIHR Director Link
delivered his periodic report to the PC. In reply to my question about future election observation mis-
sions, including those in EU and other Western countries, and the readiness of participating States to
second short-term observers to these missions, he stated that the ODIHR will continue trying to
broaden its geographical scope, but that indeed a shortage of funds and short-term observers makes
it necessary to remain selective. In addition, there were the usual debates under “Current Issues”.
Finally, the FSC approved timetable and modalities for the Fourth Annual Discussion on the Imple-
mentation of the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
March 16, 2015
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