COPENHAGEN, 15 March 2011 – OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou expressed concern today regarding the U.S. government funding of a private NGO to perform what would normally be OSCE functions. Noting that the matter will be discussed at the upcoming OSCE PA Bureau Meeting on 11 April in Copenhagen, Efthymiou said the following:

“The Parliamentary Assembly expresses serious concerns regarding the outsourcing of some of the core diplomatic functions of the OSCE Chairmanship. The OSCE is a purely political organization, thus its institutional procedures are to be undertaken by individuals bound by political accountability. We have been informed that a non-governmental organization by the name of IPI (International Peace Institute) is being financially supported by the U.S. State Department and has established an office in Vienna, in order to serve as a structure parallel to that of successive Chairmanships.

“The overall contribution of the State Department is welcome, and even critical, to our Organization. However, the nature of the objectives and the individuals involved in this particular project raise serious questions regarding the political character of the OSCE and its overall respect for our institutions.

“The PA has repeatedly noted that lack of transparency and accountability in OSCE finances is a key weakness of the Organization. As the IPI is being funded by the U.S. government, the PA leadership has expressed its concerns to U.S. diplomats in Vienna, Athens and Copenhagen about the project in question. I trust that the U.S. Government will strive to ensure transparency in all contracts and activities of our Organization.”

In an interview regarding the controversy with Foreign Policy Magazine’s blog The Cable, PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver said, “The main concern that we have had is the fact that the contract was not put out for competitive bid, the money just appeared on the table.”

He also objected to taking important diplomatic functions away from the OSCE’s formal structures and giving them to an NGO. “It looks like they’re outsourcing a major diplomatic function of the OSCE Chairmanship, which would be a very bad precedent to set,” Oliver said.