OSCE, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 34: Report from Special Representative Ambassador Panceski

OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2022-23 (2. samling)
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 34
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Special Representative

TO:

THROUGH:

OSCE PA BUREAU

OSCE PA SECRETARY GENERAL

MONTHLY REPORT for MAY 2023

Fruitless consultation on the 2023 Unified Budget and other open issues, failure to reach consensus on

the Draft Decision on the Annual Security Review Conference (ASRC), together with continuing heavy

exchanges on the Russian war against Ukraine have marked the work of the OSCE in Vienna in May.

Regular and

ad hoc

liaison and coordination meetings with the OSCE Secretariat, Institutions

and executive structures, Heads of Field Missions as well as with Permanent Missions of participating

States and other external partners continue to offer opportunities for,

inter alia,

detailed briefings on

the work of the PA, particularly in relation to the Vancouver Annual Session, election observation

activities and other regional, thematic and administrative issues.

Main events can be summarized in thematic order, as follows:

While the Russia’s war against

Ukraine

continues to dominate the overall OSCE agenda and

the whole Organization functions in “no business as usual” mode, in the month of May the

Permanent Council

has heard reports by the Head of the OSCE Mission in

Kosovo,

Amb.

Davenport; Head of the OSCE Mission to

Montenegro,

Amb. Waag; Head of the Program

Office in

Bishkek,

Amb. Rogov and the acting Director of the OSCE

Academy

in Bishkek Ms.

Satarkulova. The Representative on the Freedom of the

Media

Ms. Ribeiro has addressed the

PC as well. Further, Moscow Mechanism experts submitted to the PC their reports on Ukraine

and Belarus.

SG Schmid, together with the Chairmanship, uses every opportunity to draw the attention of

the participating States to the necessity of adoption of the OSCE

Unified Budget

for 2023 and

to present them the consequences of the absence of it. The Chairmanship is preparing the 3

Draft UB, to be presented in June.

The Chairmanship’s call for applications to replace the

external auditor

of the OSCE (French

Cour de Comptes)

whose mandate has expired on 30 April, ended without response on 31 May

and will be renewed.

In a letter to the CiO and the OSCE SG, the OSCE

Audit Committee

expressed its concerns

on a number of topical financial and institutional matters that put the functioning of the OSCE

at stake.

Contrary to the calls of the vast majority of the participating States, three fmr. local

SMM

members

remain in detention and under prosecution by

de facto

authorities in Donbas, in

violation of their functional immunity.

Further on Ukraine, the Vienna Office has contributed to the President Cederfelt and Secretary

General Montella joining the CiO Osmani and the SG Schmid in a statement denouncing

Russia’s

continued missile attacks

against Ukraine, which have intensified in recent weeks,

and condemning in the strongest possible terms this senseless violence, committed against a

civilian population that continues to pay a terrible price in this war.

Informal discussions of likeminded participating States continue in order to find solution for

major issues which are threatening the very existence of the Organization (inter

alia

2023

Unified Budget;

2024 Chairmanship;

renewal of appointments

of Heads of 4 OSCE

Institutions (SG,

ODIHR, HCNM, RFoM);

mandates of the

Field Offices).

Unfortunately, no

breakthrough on site.

Chairmanship’s

Economic and Environmental Security Conference,

scheduled for May, has

been postponed to 13-14 June (in Struga, North Macedonia, back-to-back with the Prespa

Security Forum).

_________________

OSCE PA Headquarters

Tordenskjoldsgade 1, 1055 Copenhagen K., Denmark

Website:

www.oscepa.org

Vienna Office

Neutorgasse 12/12-13, 1010 Vienna, Austria

E-Mail:

[email protected]

OSCE, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 34: Report from Special Representative Ambassador Panceski - OSCE PA Vienna Office

No consensus has been reached on the Draft Decision on the Annual Security Review

Conference (ASRC), the main event in the First Dimension. The Chairmanship will organize

the ASRC as the CiO event – as it is expected for regular conferences in other dimensions, too.

North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Osmani visited Sarajevo, Belgrade and Priština in his

capacity of the Chairperson-in-Office.

Security Committee

meeting was dedicated to

Current challenges related to border security

and management in the OSCE area,

hearing reports of several participating States on their

border management systems.

The Human Dimension Committee

meeting discussed

freedom of peaceful assembly in the

digital age,

to consider how the OSCE and participating States can better safeguard the right to

freedom of peaceful assembly, both on/offline, in the digital age.

The Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict organized an event on the

War in cities

- Impact on Children,

with participation of several relevant international/nongovernmental

organizations, examining how to minimize the suffering of children in armed conflicts, and in

particular of children in cities.

The first/special meeting of the Group of

Asian Partners

for cooperation this year under the

Polish Chairmanship was held on the topic

Times of crisis: ensuring women’s participation in

political and public life,

with Afghanistan in focus. Further, in the

Framework of the OSCE

Asian Partnership, a one-day

Inter-Regional Conference on the Impact of Emerging

Technologies on International Security and Democracy was organized,

stressing issues which

are likely to become increasingly prominent in the coming years.

The first meeting of the Group of

Mediterranean Partners

for cooperation this year under the

Finnish Chairmanship addressed

Enforcing Rule of Law and Combating Corruption in an

action-oriented approach,

focusing on Asset Recovery.

Let me use this opportunity to recall that while Asian Group is chaired by the last year’s OSCE

Chair (Poland), the Mediterranean Group is chaired by the incoming Chairmanship-in-Office.

Since there is still no agreement on the 2024 Chairmanship,

Finland

has joined Troika and took

over the Mediterranean Group upon the request of the CiO Osmani.

The

Forum for Security Cooperation

(FSC) under the Chairmanship of

Bulgaria,

held

security dialogues on the

Black Sea Region-Security Horizons

as well as on the

Capacity

Development in Humanitarian Mine Action.

Together with the Secretariat, Bulgaria has

organized

SALW and CAT Information Exchange workshop,

in accordance with the regular

calendar of events. Since consensus remained elusive on the Decision on the Meeting for the

Annual Discussion on Implementation of the

Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of

Security,

this discussion will take place in the framework of security dialogue in June.

3rd meeting of the

Informal Gender Network,

chaired by SR Dr. Hedy Fry, examined

women's representation in politics and included a presentation by ODIHR on the tools and

support it can offer to help national parliaments achieve gender equality.

Moderated by Amb. Zannier, the meeting of the

Call for Action/Helsinki+50 Initiative

took

place online to address the challenges for the OSCE, with participation of

inter alia

President

Cederfelt, SG Montella, ODIHR Director Mecacci, Chief of Staff for the OSCE SG Hart and

fmr. OSCE senior official Wake.

Austrian MP David Stogmüller visited the Vienna Office for exchanges on the issues on the

OSCE agenda.

Vienna, 05 June 2023

Sincerely,

Miodrag Pančeski

Ambassador, Special Representative