Bureau meeting in Luxembourg 7 July 2019COPENHAGEN, 24 July 2020 – Members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s elected Bureau today urged the personal attention of the Foreign Ministers of OSCE participating States to address the institutional crisis currently impacting the organization.

In an open letter to the ministers, the parliamentarians noted that the inability to reach agreement earlier this month on the OSCE Secretary General, the Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Representative on Freedom of the Media and the High Commissioner on National Minorities, and the subsequent failure to find an interim solution with the incumbents, has left a leadership vacuum that damages the collective security of North America, Europe and Central Asia. The PA leaders highlighted a series of initiatives the Assembly is launching to address the institutional crisis and stressed the need to address key issues in the context of an inclusive and open dialogue needed to revitalize the OSCE.

All members of the OSCE PA Bureau – consisting of the President, Vice-Presidents, General Committee Officers, Treasurer, and the President Emeritus – as well as the Secretary General, signed the letter, which noted that the OSCE is now constrained in its operations by the absence of the heads of all four executive structures that make up the organization. “As the elected leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and as parliamentarians who know and care deeply about the OSCE, we hereby call for your dedicated attention to this serious situation,” the letter states.

The Bureau members noted that the process for filling the positions must now move forward without delay. “We firmly believe that this is a time requiring more multilateral leadership, not empty chairs,” the OSCE parliamentarians wrote. “You and your fellow members of the OSCE Ministerial Council are in a position to rectify this problem, and we urge you to take immediate steps to this end.”

The letter points out that the PA has long advocated for greater dialogue at the political level on OSCE matters, and this remains more important now than ever. “As parliamentarians, we remain committed to contributing an important political perspective to the work of the OSCE, but it is the governments of OSCE participating States that must address the institutional crisis in the organization,” the letter states. This is important to revive the OSCE, address key current security challenges, resolve armed conflicts in the OSCE area, promote co-operation in the economic and environmental field, and strengthen democratic practices and the rule of law.

The letter stresses that the Parliamentary Assembly will engage and support efforts to restoring the ability of the OSCE to serve as a key platform for common engagement in overcoming our differences and advancing co-operative security, based solidly on a renewed commitment of the participating States to respect the ten principles of the Helsinki Final Act, at this critical juncture.

The letter’s signatories include:

• Mr. George Tsereteli, Georgia, President
• Peter Lord Bowness, United Kingdom, Vice-President
• Mr. Azay Guliyev, Azerbaijan, Vice-President
• Mr. Victor Paul Dobre, Romania, Vice-President
• Mr. Roger Wicker, United States, Vice-President
• Ms. Margareta Cederfelt, Sweden, Vice-President
• Ms. Kari Henriksen, Norway, Vice-President and Rapporteur of the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions
• Mr. Kristian Vigenin, Bulgaria, Vice-President
• Mr. Pascal Allizard, France, Vice-President
• Mr. Peter Juel-Jensen, Denmark, Treasurer
• Mr. Ilkka Kanerva, Finland, President Emeritus
• Mr. Richard Hudson, United States, Chair of the General Committee on Political Affairs and Security
• Mr. Costel Neculai Dunava, Romania, Vice-Chair of the General Committee on Political Affairs and Security
• Mr. Laurynas Kasciunas, Lithuania, Rapporteur of the General Committee on Political Affairs and Security
• Ms. Doris Barnett, Germany, Chair of the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment
• Mr. Artur Gerasymov, Ukraine, Vice-Chair of the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment
• Ms. Elona Gjebrea Hoxha, Albania, Rapporteur of the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment
• Mr. Kyriakos Hadjiyianni, Cyprus, Chair of the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions
• Mr. Michael Georg Link, Germany, Vice-Chair of the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions

• Mr. Roberto Montella, Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Today’s letter follows a statement issued on Wednesday by a group of current and former PA Presidents and leaders of the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions calling for urgent action to ensure that the organization can continue to function, particularly in fulfilling its duties in the human dimension.

In the run up to the Tirana Ministerial Council, the PA is planning on strengthening its policy and political support to the organization in a spirit of collective responsibility and with the intention of lending its contribution towards safeguarding and optimizing the crucial work of the OSCE.

To read the Bureau's open letter to OSCE Foreign Ministers, please click here.