Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
July 20, 2015
PC Brief Week 29, 2015
This week, there were meetings of the Permanent Council (PC) and the Forum for Security Co-
operation (FSC), one joint meeting between the two, meetings of the Preparatory Committee (Prep-
Com), the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), the Human Dimension Commit-
tee (HDC), as well as an OSCE Meeting to Review the Implementation of Practical Assistance Projects
on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and Stockpiles of Conventional Ammunition (SCA) (14-15
July), and an Open-Ended Informal Working Group on Strengthening the Legal Framework of the OSCE.
The PC approved the agenda and organizational modalities of the 2015 OSCE Mediterranean Confer-
ence (20 and 21 October 2015 in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan). In addition, it discussed at length
the issues that are continuously being debated since the beginning of the crisis in and around Ukraine
and the newly deepened divisions in Europe. Ambassador Apakan briefed the joint PC-FSC meeting
about the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, once more deploring the security situation regarding
the monitors. No practical steps to defuse the tensions or solve the crisis were discussed, even less
approved in the regular PC meeting which started at 10 in the morning and ended after 18:00 hours in
the evening.
These days, many heads of the permanent delegations to the OSCE are leaving Vienna, among them
the ambassadors of Russia, UK, France, Germany and the Swiss ambassador and former PC Chair. In
my experience, it will take a while before the new ambassadors will build up their communication ave-
nues, which will probably add to the present difficulties.
The main topic of the Human Dimension Committee was Gender Equality. In reference to the recent
PA Annual Session, Finland and Canada emphasized the quality of the OSCE PA’s contribution to gen-
der equality that took place in Helsinki. The Informal Working Group on Strengthening the Legal
Framework held one of the many routine meetings it has been holding over the past eight years. Al-
though the long list of problems resulting from the absence of a legal status of the organization was
illustrated by additional examples, including the decision of Finland to prevent Russian PA members
from participating in the Annual Session in Helsinki, no progress was made, due to the irreconcilable
positions of the US and Russia. I had the opportunity to reiterate the PA's position on the draft Con-
vention and possible further documents.
The SALW meeting was reasonably more interactive than many others, but mainly discussed technical
project details and requests for more financial support.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
July 20, 2015