Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Weeks 17/18, 2016
During these two weeks, there were meetings of the Permanent Council (PC), the Forum for
Security Cooperation (FSC), the Preparatory Committee (PrepComm), a two-day OSCE Human
Dimension Committee (HDC) retreat, meetings of working groups and “groups of friends” (Legal
Framework of the OSCE, Migration, Mediation), as well as several other informal meetings,
including a brainstorming meeting on Ukraine. Marc Carillet participated in the HDC retreat,
which took place outside of Vienna. I travelled to Coblenz, Germany to deliver a speech on the
future role of the OSCE, including the OSCE PA, in European Security.
The PC did not take decisions. The necessary decisions on this year’s Human Dimension
Events (the next will be this month) are still without consensus. The PC also failed to find
consensus of a commemorative Chernobyl Declaration. While, during the first week, Ambassa-
dors Apakan and Sajdik reported about the increased violence and ceasefire violations in
Ukraine, during the second PC it was noted that the Orthodox Easter Truce had led to a
relatively calm situation. This also somewhat calmed down the spirits during the usual exchange
about the crisis in and around Ukraine.
The “4th Informal Brainstorming Meeting on Dialogue in Ukraine” was a full day meeting
attended by representatives of OSCE executive structures, including the OSCE Special
Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine as well as representa-
tives of international think tanks, civil society organizations, the UN Department of Political
Affairs, and the External Action Service of the EU. Discussions and interventions focused on the
identification of feasible avenues for dialogue across the line of contact. Participants generally
recognized that having Ukrainian MPs undertake fact finding visits to the Donbass region
(possibly also facilitated by the PA) could make a contribution to fostering national dialogue.
The “Open-ended Informal Working Group on the Legal Framework of the OSCE” discussed
once more the consequences resulting from the lack of a clear legal status of the OSCE. While
efforts are being made to come to bilateral agreements, some participating States still seem to
have an issue with seeing the OSCE PA as a fully-fledged part of the OSCE with consequenc-
es, for instance, for the interpretation of the decisions of the European Council regarding visa
bans for PA members. The Russian Federation enquired about the distinction between the PA
and the other (executive) autonomous institutions of the OSCE.
Amb. Jonathan Moore, Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, requested a
meeting in order to explain the importance the mission attaches to inter-parliamentary initiatives
in the country. In meetings with the Representative on the Freedom of the Media, and the Swiss
Chair of the Working Group on Migration we discussed further steps in the cooperation between
the Working Group and the PA’s Migration Committee.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
May 6, 2016