In line with advice and guidelines from the World Health Organization and national authorities regarding the coronavirus outbreak, the OSCE PA International Secretariat started working remotely on 12 March. A number of upcoming activities, including the OSCE PA’s election observation missions and the Annual Session, have been postponed until further notice. However, the Secretariat is continuing to support the activities of the Assembly.
The Secretariat implements a policy of regular online co-ordination calls and meetings with OSCE executive structures at all levels.
The OSCE PA is regularly consulting with heads of OSCE institutions.
Secretary General Roberto Montella, in a letter to the Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE, Prime Minister of Republic of Albania Edi Rama, reassured the CiO of the strongest support of the OSCE PA and to invited him to make full use of the OSCE platform to address the challenging fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Secretariat, represented by Senior Adviser Marco Bonabello and Administration and Logistics Officer Dimitrije Todoric, continues close co-ordination with the OSCE Crisis Management Team, which is in charge of developing a common preventive response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Co-ordination video calls between Secretaries General of OSCE PA, NATO PA and PACE happen on a regular basis.
Roberto Montella meets counterparts from PACE and NATO PA onlineSecretaries General discuss common challenges facing the three organizations during the COVID-19 crisis, sharing views and strategies for continuing activities and holding meetings going forward. The three SGs discussed possibilities for video-conferencing, electronic voting and simultaneous translation. There was general agreement that technology offers innovative solutions for coping with social distancing requirements but that it is important to maintain a high level of usability and quality for members of the assemblies, and ensuring that decisions are taken in line with the rules. The SGs expressed support for further co-operation and strengthened multilateralism in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
PA leaders meet in online forums.
The International Secretariat organizes regular virtual discussions with the elected leaders of the PA on procedural, political and financial matters, and meetings with members on situation in respective countries, on status of planned activities and other matters.
The Secretariat organizes regular consultations with state authorities of host countries on rules and regulations for office administration.
FACILITATION OF AID
One of the greatest assets of the OSCE PA is its network and its capacity to connect authorities and legislators – and ultimately the people - of 57 States.
This is proving useful also in terms of facilitating cross-border requests for aid. For instance, the call for urgent delivery of medical equipment by Lombardy’s President during the informal Bureau Meeting on 25 March activated a series of contacts between our Members, the Secretariat and Kazakh authorities and led, in very short time, to the delivery of the needed equipment from a Pharmaceutical company in Kazakhstan to Lombardy. Our Members are very active both through official and informal channels in this regard.
