1286Th PLENARY MEETING of the COUNCIL
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PC.JOUR/1286 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 22 October 2020 Permanent Council Original: ENGLISH Chairmanship: Albania 1286th PLENARY MEETING OF THE COUNCIL 1. Date: Thursday, 22 October 2020 (in the Neuer Saal and via video teleconference) Opened: 10.05 a.m. Suspended: 1.10 p.m. Resumed: 3.05 p.m. Closed: 6.15 p.m. 2. Chairperson: Ambassador I. Hasani Prior to taking up the agenda, the Chairperson reminded the Permanent Council of the technical modalities for the conduct of meetings of the Council during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chairperson welcomed the new Permanent Representative of Canada to the OSCE, Ambassador Jocelyn Kinnear. 3. Subjects discussed – Statements – Decisions/documents adopted: Agenda item 1: REPORT BY THE HEAD OF THE OSCE MISSION TO MOLDOVA Chairperson, Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova (PC.FR/38/20 OSCE+), Germany-European Union (with the candidate countries Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia; the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate country Bosnia and Herzegovina; the European Free Trade Association countries Iceland and Liechtenstein, members of the European Economic Area; as well as Georgia, in alignment) (PC.DEL/1452/20), Russian Federation (PC.DEL/1441/20), United States of America (PC.DEL/1419/20), Turkey (PC.DEL/1425/20 OSCE+), Switzerland (PC.DEL/1436/20 OSCE+), United Kingdom (PC.DEL/1416/20 OSCE+), Norway (PC.DEL/1422/20), Ukraine (PC.DEL/1447/20), Moldova (Annex 1) PCOEJ1286 - 2 - PC.JOUR/1286 22 October 2020 Agenda item 2: COMMEMORATION OF THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325 Chairperson, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Gender (CIO.GAL/199/20/Rev.1 OSCE+), Germany-European Union (with the candidate countries Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia; the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate country Bosnia and Herzegovina; the European Free Trade Association countries Iceland and Liechtenstein, members of the European Economic Area; as well as Andorra, Georgia, Moldova, San Marino and Ukraine, in alignment) (PC.DEL/1453/20), United States of America (PC.DEL/1417/20), Russian Federation, Turkey (PC.DEL/1427/20 OSCE+), Switzerland (PC.DEL/1438/20 OSCE+), United Kingdom, Holy See (PC.DEL/1420/20 OSCE+), Permanent Representative of Georgia (also on behalf of the Permanent Representatives of Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mongolia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Union) (Annex 2), Norway (PC.DEL/1423/20), Afghanistan (Partner for Co-operation), Canada (PC.DEL/1468/20 OSCE+), Ukraine (PC.DEL/1449/20 OSCE+), Spain (PC.DEL/1418/20 OSCE+), Lithuania (PC.DEL/1426/20 OSCE+), OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA.GAL/20/20 OSCE+), Director of the Office of the Secretary General Agenda item 3: REVIEW OF CURRENT ISSUES Chairperson (a) Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine and illegal occupation of Crimea: Ukraine (PC.DEL/1428/20), Canada (PC.DEL/1469/20 OSCE+), Germany-European Union (with the candidate countries Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia; the European Free Trade Association countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area; as well as Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, in alignment) (PC.DEL/1454/20), Switzerland (PC.DEL/1439/20 OSCE+), United States of America (PC.DEL/1430/20), United Kingdom, Turkey (PC.DEL/1424/20), Azerbaijan (PC.DEL/1435/20 OSCE+) (b) Situation in Ukraine and the need to implement the Minsk agreements: Russian Federation (PC.DEL/1432/20), Ukraine (c) Aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan (Annex 3), Turkey (Annex 4) (d) Position of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Russian Federation (Annex 5), Switzerland (PC.DEL/1437/20 OSCE+), United States of America (PC.DEL/1431/20), Germany-European Union (with the candidate countries Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia; the European Free Trade Association countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area; - 3 - PC.JOUR/1286 22 October 2020 as well as Andorra, Moldova, and San Marino, in alignment) (PC.DEL/1455 /20), Canada (PC.DEL/1470/20 OSCE+), United Kingdom, Azerbaijan (Annex 6), France (PC.DEL/1444/20 OSCE+), Armenia (Annex 7), Turkey (PC.DEL/1451/20 OSCE+) (e) Aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh and Armenia with the direct involvement of Turkey and foreign terrorist fighters: Armenia (Annex 8) Agenda item 4: REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP-IN-OFFICE (a) Logistical modalities for the Twenty-Seventh Meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council, to be held in Tirana and via video teleconference on 3 and 4 December 2020 (MC.INF/1/20): Chairperson (b) Indication of preferences regarding the candidates nominated for the posts of Secretary General, High Commissioner on National Minorities, Representative on Freedom of the Media, and Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights: Chairperson (c) Third OSCE Gender Equality Review Conference, to be held via video teleconference on 27 and 28 October 2020: Chairperson (d) Joint event themed “Gender equality for a more peaceful world” on the OSCE’s contribution to the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325, organized by the OSCE Chairmanship together with Finland and Sweden, and held via video teleconference on 21 October 2020: Chairperson Agenda item 5: REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARIAT (a) Request for the donation of COVID-19 antigen test kits to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine: Director of the Office of the Secretary General (b) 2020 Economic and Environmental Dimension Implementation Meeting, held in Vienna and via video teleconference on 19 and 20 October 2020: Director of the Office of the Secretary General (SEC.GAL/155/20 OSCE+) (c) OSCE Security Days round table on “Revitalizing trust and co-operation in Europe: Lessons of the Paris Charter”, held via video teleconference on 16 October 2020: Director of the Office of the Secretary General (SEC.GAL/155/20 OSCE+) (d) Participation of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in a conference organized by the Parliamentary Group for the Fight against Human Trafficking of the Parliament of Romania and held via video teleconference on 21 October 2020: Director of the Office of the Secretary General (SEC.GAL/155/20 OSCE+) - 4 - PC.JOUR/1286 22 October 2020 (e) Participation of the Officer-in-Charge/Secretary General on 15 October 2020 in the third annual meeting of the OSCE-Tajikistan Partnership Platform, held via video teleconference on 15 and 16 October 2020: Director of the Office of the Secretary General (SEC.GAL/155/20 OSCE+) (f) Relations between the OSCE Secretariat and external structures: Russian Federation, Director of the Office of the Secretary General Agenda item 6: ANY OTHER BUSINESS None 4. Next meeting: Thursday, 29 October 2020, at 10 a.m., in the Neuer Saal and via video teleconference PC.JOUR/1286 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 22 October 2020 Permanent Council Annex 1 Original: ENGLISH 1286th Plenary Meeting PC Journal No. 1286, Agenda item 1 STATEMENT BY THE DELEGATION OF MOLDOVA Mr. Chairperson, We join previous speakers in welcoming Mr. Claus Neukirch back to the Permanent Council and thank him for the detailed report. We value the activity of the OSCE Mission in Moldova and using this occasion reiterate our full support to the work of its dedicated team in line with the given mandate. From the outset, in these difficult times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we would like to express our gratitude to the OSCE particiapting States, including partner organizations, for their support in preventing the spread of this virus and for providing technical assistance to the people on both banks of the Nistru River. During the reference period, the evolving situation on the ground has brought to light more aspects pertaining to the existing security situation and mechanism in the region, which were presented by the delegation of the Republic of Moldova at the OSCE Permanent Council on 8 and 15 October. This refers to the arbitrary and illegal installation of 37 barriers and control posts, indicating an attempt of internal “borderization”, the systematic violation of human rights in the Transnistrian region, expressed through abusive and illegal actions against the freedom of movement, freedom of expression, inviolability of private life, right to property, right to life, right to health. The logic of installation of a new infrastructure around the illegal posts in the Security Zone, signals the line of strengthening the region’s further isolation. Despite constrains imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the chief negotiator and representatives of the national authorities have been engaged on the ground to resolve the issues related to the Berlin-plus package. We reiterate that some solutions reached in 2018–2019, such as freedom of movement for people and officials have not proved sustainable, not being respected by Tiraspol. We are compelled to note that the Moldovan officials still do not have access to the Transnistrian region, contrary to the agreements reached between the chief negotiators in September 2019, a solution abandoned in the meantime by Tiraspol. On the other hand, the residents can enter or exit the Transnistrian region only on the basis of written pre-notification, subject to the arbitrary decision of Tiraspol, the thing that was overlooked in this report. - 2 - PC.JOUR/1286 22 October 2020 Annex 1 Mr. Chairperson, Chișinău has assessed these risks since the beginning of the pandemic and shared its concerns with the OSCE Mission to Moldova on a permanent basis. The foundation of the peaceful settlement of the conflict begins with the most inherent and fundamental human rights.