ANNUAL REPORT 2013 The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is THE WORLD’S LARGEST REGIONAL SECURITY ORGANIZATION working to ensure peace, democracy and stability for more than a billion people between Vancouver and Vladivostock. FOLLOW US ON www.facebook.com/osce.org http://twitter.com/OSCE www.youtube.com/user/osce http://storify.com/OSCE www.linkedin.com/company/osce http://instagram.com/osceorg http://soundcloud.com/osce Published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Press and Public Information Section Office of the Secretary General OSCE Secretariat Wallnerstrasse 6 1010 Vienna Austria www.osce.org ©OSCE 2013 All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may be freely used and copied for educational and other non-commercial purposes, provided that any such reproduction is accompanied by an acknowledgement of the OSCE as the source. ISBN 978-92-9235-024-6 Edited by Alexander Nitzsche Design and Layout: Source Associates AG, Zurich Front cover photo credit: OSCE/Mavjuda Garrufova Printed on recycled paper in Luxembourg by Imprimerie Centrale TABLE OF CONTENTS MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY GENERAL 2 FIELD OPERATIONS 52 WHAT WE DO 4 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE IN SUMMARY 6 Presence in Albania 54 Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina 56 Mission in Kosovo 58 REPORT OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP-IN-OFFICE 8 Mission to Montenegro 60 Mission to Serbia 62 Mission to Skopje 64 PERMANENT COUNCIL 23 EASTERN EUROPE FORUM FOR SECURITY CO-OPERATION 26 Mission to Moldova 66 Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine 68 OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY 29 SOUTH CAUCASUS Office in Baku 70 SECRETARIAT 33 Office in Yerevan 72 Strengthening gender equality 34 Tackling economic and environmental challenges 36 CENTRAL ASIA Combating trafficking in human beings 38 Combating transnational threats 40 Centre in Ashgabat 74 Preventing and resolving conflict 42 Centre in Astana 76 Centre in Bishkek 78 Office in Tajikistan 80 OFFICE FOR DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan 82 AND HUMAN RIGHTS 44 BILATERAL AGREEMENTS HIGH COMMISSIONER ON NATIONAL MINORITIES 48 Representative to the Latvian-Russian REPRESENTATIVE ON FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA 50 Joint Commission on Military Pensioners 84 PARTNERSHIPS FOR SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION 86 Asian and Mediterranean Partners 87 International, regional and sub-regional organizations and institutions 91 ANNEXES 98 Staff 99 Unified Budget 100 Pledges and expenditures 102 Contact information 105 OSCE ANNUAL REPORT 2013 1 Message from the Secretary General MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY GENERAL As 2013 draws to a close, the OSCE has demonstrated it has the potential to bridge differences and serve the interests of all participating States in today’s rapidly changing security environment. Even as old challenges persist, including unresolved conflicts in our region, we face a host of new threats that are increasingly complex, cross-dimensional and transnational. The re-emergence of mistrust and divisions threatens to undermine security in our region, as does instability in neighbouring regions. In order to preserve the effectiveness of the OSCE as a security organization, its agenda and structures must evolve and adapt. The Organization experienced equally challenging periods in the past, and it found ways to adjust and reinvigorate itself. Today the OSCE’s greatest strengths – our comprehensive approach to security, our inclusiveness, our permanent dialogue and our consensus-based decision-making – are more relevant than ever. Our challenge is to find ways to unlock our Organization’s potential, putting the concept of co-operative security at the forefront. This year we achieved progress in several key areas with a direct impact on people’s lives, including facilitating voting in municipal elections in northern Kosovo1, an important step toward building stability and trust in the wider region. The adoption of an initial set of confidence-building measures to reduce the risks of conflict stemming from information and communication technologies and the extension of our Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings have together enhanced our ability to 1 All references to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. 2 OSCE ANNUAL REPORT 2013 combat transnational threats. We are also strengthening our relationship with our Asian and Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation, which is especially important given the imminent withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan and the ongoing crisis in Syria. In 2015, the OSCE will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act. Last year in Dublin, participating States agreed to initiate the Helsinki+40 process to advance all three dimensions of security and to identify how the Organization’s enduring principles can help us to address contemporary challenges. I appreciate the dedication with which the Ukrainian Chairmanship set this process in motion, in close co-operation with the incoming Swiss and Serbian Chairmanships. The Helsinki+40 process provides an opportunity to think creatively and strategically about the future of the OSCE. Although reform is not a goal in itself, given today’s complex security environment and ongoing financial pressures, this process can help us modernize and streamline the Organization so that it provides greater added value. Helsinki+40 can move us toward consensus on many divisive and challenging issues, provided that participating States reinforce their engagement with the Organization and use it to address their differences co-operatively and to take common action on the basis of shared commitments and values, which need to be protected and nurtured. An indispensable part of this approach is the determination to strengthen OSCE commitments in all three security dimensions and to implement them in good faith. The Organization should remain devoted to helping governments comply with their commitments, including protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and respect for the rule of law. The Ministerial Council in Kyiv took place in challenging circumstances, yet it reached consensus on a balanced package of significant decisions in all three dimensions, including the human dimension for the first time in several years. Ministers welcomed the resumption of high-level dialogue toward the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, encouraged efforts to achieve compromise solutions in the Transdniestrian settlement process, and reaffirmed their commitment to the Helsinki+40 process. This has provided us with a solid framework for further work in 2014. Many of the OSCE’s efforts are devoted to conflict prevention, so that often our work does not receive the attention and credit it deserves. To increase the Organization’s visibility and reach broader audiences, we are increasing our engagement with civil society, academia and youth, and leveraging the Internet and social media. OSCE Security Days, launched in 2012, have quickly become a dynamic forum for discussing contemporary security challenges with external personalities who bring fresh perspectives to the OSCE debate. I am grateful for the generous support of participating States for this initiative, as well as for the newly established OSCE Academic Network, which injects innovative ideas into our security dialogue. I encourage interested institutions from all participating States to join the Network. I would like to recognize the excellent co-operation we have had with the outgoing Ukrainian Chairmanship, and welcome the incoming Swiss Chairmanship. I also thank the talented and dedicated staff of the OSCE Secretariat, Institutions and Field Operations, who, despite working in challenging political and financial circumstances, remain devoted to the Organization’s ambitious aim of promoting security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian space. Lamberto Zannier OSCE Secretary General Vienna, 2013 OSCE ANNUAL REPORT 2013 3 What we do WHAT WE DO MANY FACETS OF SECURITY The cornerstone of the OSCE’s work is the concept that security requires a comprehensive and co-operative approach. On this basis, the Organization’s founding documents divided its work into three baskets or “dimensions”: the politico-military, the economic and environmental, and the human dimension. Many activities have evolved over the decades since the OSCE’s founding years. Some cover not only one dimension but cut across several. help fight corruption and build accountable institutions assist arms control and military reform, support confidence- and security-building measures, train staff monitor, promote fundamental freedoms and rights promote rights of national minorities, monitor and help resolve ethnic tensions prevent trafficking, protect its victims and prosecute traffickers monitor, review legislation, train journalists support economic growth, monitor impact of trafficking, take action against corruption and money-laundering 4 OSCE ANNUAL REPORT 2013 involved in the entire conflict cycle: from early warning to post-conflict rehabilitation empower women, build local capacities and expertise, help review legislation strengthen political participation, combat racism and discrimination, protect rights of the displaced raise awareness, promote public participation, run projects on water management, soil degradation and hazardous waste disposal promote minority education and learning about human rights,