OSCE WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS: FEBRUARY 8 - 12, 2010

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USOSCE 000041 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OSCE PGOV PREL MARR KV KZ AF SUBJECT: OSCE WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS: FEBRUARY 8 - 12, 2010 Chairmanship Requests Information on Review Conference, Afghanistan ¶1. (SBU) In our February 9 meeting with the Chairmanship, Kazakhstani PermRep Abdrakhmanov requested additional information on U.S. expectations for the review conference the Chairmanship has been encouraged to hold in the run-up to a summit. Abdrakhmanov said the subject had come up in Kazakhstani Foreign Minister Saudabayev's meetings in Washington and asked for our thoughts on the review conference's length and substance, specifically asking if it should focus on all three dimensions (or exclusively on the human dimension) and if the annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting still should be held. Abdrakhmanov further asked "what the United States expected" on Afghanistan and said the Chairmanship was trying to figure out how to achieve results. CDA Fuller promised to provide additional information but encouraged the Chairmanship to focus on the Corfu Process and the June interim report, noting both would help determine whether there was sufficient substance for a summit. Chairmanship Plans to Invite High-Level Officials to the PC ¶2. (SBU) In the same meeting, Abdrakhmanov said the Chairmanship had invited several high-level officials to address the Permanent Council (PC) this year, in some cases charting new territory. Abdrakhmanov said the UN secretary general had agreed "in principle" to address the PC, perhaps April 9, and noted that the NATO, CSTO, and SCO secretaries general also had agreed in principle. In addition, Abdrakhmanov said the Chairmanship had invited Lady Ashton and the heads of the Council of Europe, ASEAN, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Alliance for Civilizations, and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Central Asia (CICA). Kazakhstan likely is hoping to use these high-level visits to raise the OSCE's profile and boost its own prestige. Possible OSCE Endorsement of Afghanistan Conference Conclusions ¶3. (SBU) UK PermRep Ian Cliff told the Quad ambassadors and CDA Fuller February 9 that his government would like to obtain an OSCE endorsement of the outcomes of the January 28 London conference on Afghanistan. He plans to make a straightforward statement about the conclusions at the February 25 Permanent Council meeting and is asking the EU, the United States, Russia, and like-minded countries to make positive statements. This would then enable OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Kazakhstani FM Saudabayev to issue a public statement saying he had addressed the conference and that the OSCE Permanent Council had discussed its conclusions and fully supported them. Ambassador Dell, SCE Director Hyland Meet Key OSCE Players ¶4. (SBU) On February 8 and 9 Ambassador Chris Dell and SCE Director Jason Hyland met a number of key OSCE interlocutors in Vienna to discuss and give U.S. perspectives on Kosovo and OMIK. At a dinner hosted by CDA Fuller February 8, Ambassador Dell noted the many positive developments in Kosovo and urged the OSCE to focus on practical capacity-building activities there, including potentially with new Serb municipalities. The following day, Ambassador USOSCE 00000041 002 OF 002 Dell, Hyland, and CDA Fuller met senior members of the OSCE Secretariat to discuss OSCE activities in Kosovo. Later, Hyland, Pfeuffer, and USDEL met with the Kazakhstani deputy PermRep responsible for Balkans issues (who professed little direct knowledge of the region) to emphasize the importance of taking a balanced approach to Kosovo. Pushing Term Limits to the Fore ¶5. (SBU) On the margins of the February 10 PC meeting, the U.S. and UK Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF) representatives cornered the Kazakhstani ACMF chair in separate encounters and pushed for further action on the Secretary General's proposals to harmonize term limitations for OSCE staff and secondees. Our message was simple: interested delegations had rejected the SG's first proposal, so a revised version, either from the SG or the ACMF chair, was needed. The ACMF chair said he understood that the Secretariat had drafted a response and would offer it "shortly." Key areas of disagreement remain terms for heads and deputy heads of mission, grandfathering existing staff, and whether staff who leave the organization can reset their clocks and return for another 10-year term. We understand Albanian Head of Mission (HOM) Bosch is circulating a paper among other HOM's as a combined position statement on personnel issues that includes an effort to reconcile contract and seconded employees at lower levels to a 10-year time-in-position limitation. Scales of Contribution: Opening Old Wounds ¶6. (U) Interested ACMF members attended an informal working group meeting February 10 to discuss the scales of contribution review called for in PC/DEC/924. In the decision, the PC agreed to roll over existing scales for calendar year 2010 and tasked the ACMF chair to initiate discussions and report to the PC by the end of June 2010. No participating State chose to take on the 14 percent ceiling for field missions, although some grumbled that this did not follow the principle of capacity to pay. Others, including the United States, reaffirmed the idea that the OSCE should not become dependent on any one country or group of countries and noted that capacity to pay was balanced by political will to contribute, especially given the organization's consensus-based decision making process. A discarded idea from previous years, that of a unified scale that would be the same for both the headquarters/institutions and the field operations, was revived. In the past, Russia and other States opposed a unified scale, as it would raise their contribution levels. The EU asked that charts be issued showing the EU contribution as a whole and broken out by Members. The EU contributes about 70 percent of the OSCE's overall budget, so the request for group numbers is something to watch. Many delegations seemed encouraged that progress -- perhaps even a new scale or scales -- could be attained this year. The UK plans to hold bi-weekly meetings of the informal working group. FULLER