Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 47/48, 2018
During the past two weeks there have been meetings of the Permanent Council (PC), including
a Special PC on the Kerch Strait incident, and the Forum for Security Cooperation (FSC), as
well as a two-day ambassadorial retreat. A number of committees and other informal bodies
and gatherings have also held meetings, and there was an
“hour
of the Secretary General with
participating
States”.
Francesco Pagani accompanied PA Secretary General Roberto Montella
to an election observation-related conference in London and participated in a Needs Assess-
ment Mission for the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine. I took part in a Symposium
on the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security (as reported in the News from
Copenhagen). The event included a discussion with members of the Bundestag Defense Com-
mittee and the German OSCE PA Delegation.
The PC decided to submit the decision about Albania`s bid for the 2020 OSCE Chairmanship
to a Ministerial Council Silence Procedure Decision and extend the Deployment of OSCE Ob-
servers to Two Russian Checkpoints on the Russian-Ukrainian Border, the Mandate of the
OSCE Presence in Albania and the mandates of the OSCE Program Office in Astana, the
OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the OSCE Mission to Moldova, the OSCE Mission
to Montenegro, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the OSCE Mission to Skopje as well as the OSCE
Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan.
While engaging in intensive drafting exercises in preparation for the Milan Ministerial Council
next week, delegations were dealing with three burning issues: The OSCE Chairmanship in
2020, the Scales of Contribution and the latest escalation of tensions between Russia and
Ukraine. The latter led to various debates in PC and FSC meetings, including the above-men-
tioned Special PC. Quoting from the Press Release of PA President George Tsereteli, I made
a statement outlining the concerns of the Parliamentary Assembly about the escalation which
constitutes a serious threat to European Security. Both Russia and Ukraine presented what
they described as facts regarding the Kerch Strait incident. The positions were substantiated,
but contradictory. Despite the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) and other OSCE field
presences in the region, there is no OSCE mechanism that investigates further into these facts
in order to establish which assertions are accurate. However, there are initial discussions re-
garding a possible risk prevention mechanism for the Azov Sea.
No consensus has been reached regarding the Scales of Contribution. A proposal to continue
with the existing Scales was rejected. If some delegations stick to previous positions, this could
seriously endanger the financing of the OSCE. Albania has received almost unanimous sup-
port for its bid for the 2020 OSCE Chairmanship, and if no country objects before December 5
noon, the decision will be final. However, Serbia`s reference under
“Current Issues”
to certain
“statements
regarding the unification of Albania and Kosovo and Trade Tariffs Imposed by
Priština”
by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama led to a heated debate. Serbia`s complaints
were supported by several participating States that have not recognized Kosovo`s declaration
of independence, among them EU countries.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
December 3, 2018