Standing Committee

Standing Committee meeting in Vilnius, June 2009

OSCE PA President Joao Soares opened the Standing Committee on 29 June -- the first day of the 18th Annual Session -- with a brief report of the Assembly’s activities over the past year including his trip to Central Asia and the Dublin Economic Conference. He acknowledged the presence of several members of parliament from Afghanistan and mentioned his desire to strengthen that relationship.

Following President Soares, OSCE PA Treasurer Hans Raidel reported on the current budget situation and answered related questions. The budget for the 2009-2010 Fiscal Year was approved unanimously.

OSCE PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver then welcomed attending members of the Standing Committee and gave a brief summary of his activities and work from the past year. He mentioned that the PA had stayed within budget, despite tight financial times, and discussed the recent OSCE Ministerial in Corfu, Greece. He concluded by thanking the Lithuanian delegation and Parliament for hosting this year’s Annual Session.

The Committee then discussed and approved 24 Supplementary Items for debate in the Assembly’s three General Committees. All Supplementary Items were approved unanimously with the exception of one.

Following this discussion, the Chairperson of the Subcommittee on the Rules of Procedure, Pia Christmas-Moeller, explained several proposed rules changes and amendments. The changes include an amendment providing for more gender balance in the OSCE PA and one clarifying procedures for early voting in Assembly elections. All proposed changes to the Rules were agreed to unanimously.

The Secretary General of the OSCE, Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, addressed the Standing Committee by discussing the role of the OSCE as whole under his leadership. He spoke broadly about the many activities and functions of the OSCE Institutions as well as more specifically on the current situation in Moldova and the ending of the OSCE mandate in Georgia. He received several questions following his address, including requests for more information on the situation in Georgia and the aftermath of the Iranian elections.

Following the Secretary General, several members of the Committee described recent election observation missions in Moldova and Montenegro. In addition, Deputy Secretary General Tina Schon addressed the upcoming observation missions to Kyrgyzstan and Moldova. Uta Zapf, the Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, discussed the current situation in Belarus and President Emeritus Goran Lennmarker, who serves as Special Representative on Nagorno-Karabakh and Special Envoy to Georgia, discussed the situation in the South Caucasus. The Special Representative for Afghanistan, Michel Voisin, addressed the current situation on the ground there and his desire to send several Members of the PA to support, not observe, elections there.

Upcoming meetings and conferences were mentioned and highlighted as committee members begin to plan for the upcoming months.

Finally, after a discussion following Secretary General de Brichambaut’s address, a draft resolution on the current situation following the recent Iranian elections was adopted by the Committee for inclusion in the debate later in the week.