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Belarusian Authorities Agreed to Extension of OSCE Mission |
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Wednesday, 13 January 2010 |
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The OSCE Office in Minsk made Lukashenka’s “nice list” last Christmas.
As a result, it was given permission to extend its mandate for one more
year, until Dec. 31, 2010. However, the mission’s work has to abide by
strict conditions. Were the Office to overstep the mandate and engage
in “activities that go beyond the agreed parameters, the Belarusian
side reserves the right to terminate the activities of the OSCE Office
in Minsk” any time, as the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
warned.
The meaning of this decision – or rather its meaninglessness– is
somewhat similar to that of the EU decision in December 2009 to extend
sanctions while suspending their application. The OSCE mission is
extended, but its actions are so restricted that its presence in Minsk
makes little difference. The only difference is that – with or without
the sanctions – the EU hardly has a say in Belarusian politics while
the Belarusian authorities will continue to effectively dictate the
OSCE what to do for years to come.
The decision to extend the mission was made at the session of the
OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Dec. 30, 2009. The Belarusian
Foreign Ministry applauded the Office for cooperating with the
Belarusian side in 2009. This is not surprising for there must be
reasons why the Belarusian opposition and several OSCE member states
complained over the actions and statements of the former head of the
OSCE office, Hans Jochen Schmidt. Their complains led to Schmidt’s
early termination (his term was supposed to expire in February 2010)
and appointment of German diplomat Benedikt Haller as his successor.
The OSCE Office in Minsk was established on 30 December 2002
following OSCE Permanent Council Decision No 526. Its objectives have
been to work with the Belarusian government on the issues of
institution building, consolidating the rule of law, developing
relations with civil society, fostering economic and environmental
activities. The Foreign Ministry said there were “no objective reasons
today for the presence of the OSCE Office in Belarus.” Either the
office has been so successful in achieving its objectives that there is
nothing else to contribute, or the Belarusian government prefers that
these objectives never be achieved.
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