The final day of the OSCE PA Winter Meeting started with a meeting of the Standing Committee during which, in addition to presenting the Parliamentary Assembly activities by the end of 2015, there was a reference to financial statements, and reports by observers’ missions from this year’s elections in Ukraine, United States of America, Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the meeting, there was special emphasis on gratitude of the Secretariat to the parliaments of Turkey and Germany for special contributions to the budget, which was used to plan for additional activities of the OSCE PA.  

Furthermore, at the Standing Committee meeting attended by heads of delegations of the member states, the amendment to the Rules of Procedure was initiated, in part relating to amendments in the sense that they could only be considered if there were no objections to that by any member of the Committee, and the majority of votes was needed for the adoption of this amendment. However, the proposal was rejected due to the lack of the needed consensus.

The meeting of the Standing Committee was also marked by the discussion of developments in Ukraine, and efforts of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly regarding ceasefire.

During the debate on the Ukrainian crisis, the attendees were also addressed by President Emeritus of the OSCE PA and President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Ranko Krivokapić, who said that he empathised with the situation in Ukraine, and that discussions on this topic reminded him on discussions led before the signing of the Dayton Agreement. Mr Krivokapić believes that the communication needs to be led in the spirit of parliamentarianism, because parliamentarians, not only because its suits them, they also have an obligation to lead a dialogue, freed from emotion, with a clear purpose – to have peace between conflicted parties as soon as possible. At the Standing Committee meeting, the contribution that the OSCE PA provided through the format of the Vienna Process was pointed out gathering two parliamentary delegations, the Russian and the Ukrainian, and which was established during the term of office of the President Krivokapić, and specified its further activities.

In the second part of the day, another session of all three committees was held, which was marked by discussion on the issue of gender equality, with emphasis on participation of women in politics and prevention of violence against women, within which it was pointed out that the issue of gender equality was not only the issue of women, but it related to equality between men and women.

However, this year’s Winter Meeting was focused on the response of OSCE to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. In that regard, the need for leading a dialogue was emphasised both at the local as well as regional and national levels, which would lead to permanent peace in the region. In addition, the necessity of honouring the measure pack provided through the Minsk Agreement was pointed out, and it was concluded that finding all the available means for resolving the issue of refugees, and honouring of human rights, as well as ceasefire and reconciliation of the warring parties remained the priority of the OSCE PA Agenda.

With regard to the upcoming activities of the OSCE PA, the Bureau meeting will be held in Copenhagen in April, while another one will be organised in Belgrade, by the end of the year. The annual OSCE PA session will be held in Helsinki in July, marking the anniversary to the Helsinki 40+ process and adoption of the joint Resolution, while Mongolia will be hosting the Autumn Meeting of the OSCE PA.

The participants in this year’s Winter Meeting include: President Emeritus of the OSCE PA Mr Ranko Krivokapić, and members of the standing delegation Vice President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Milutin Simović and MP Mr Goran Danilović.