Report

From 5 to 9 July 2015, a delegation of eight Canadian parliamentarians attended the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s (OSCE PA[1]) Annual Session in Helsinki, Finland. Mr. Dean Allison, M.P. led the delegation, which also included from the Senate, the Honourable Senators Ghislain Maltais, Percy Downe, George Furey and Vernon White, and from the House of Commons, Mr. Larry Miller, M.P., Mr. James Rajotte, M.P. and the Honourable Dr. Hedy Fry, M.P. Ms. Erin Shaw, Advisor, and Mr. David Gagnon, Secretary, accompanied the delegation.

2015 Annual Session^[2]

For five days, from 5– 9 July 2015, parliamentarians from across the OSCE area, together with representatives of the “Partners for Cooperation” states met in Helsinki, Finland for the 2015 OSCE PA Annual Session. The theme of the Annual Session was “Recalling the Spirit of Helsinki.” The theme of the Annual Session reflects the fact that 2015 marks the 40^th Anniversary of the adoption of the Helsinki Final Act.

The program began with a seminar marking the release of the OSCE PA’s Helsinki +40 Project Final Report, which is intended to feed into the inter-State Helsinki +40 Process, and a meeting of the Standing Committee.^[3] Over the next three days, the Assembly held meetings of the General Committees, a working lunch on gender issues, and a meeting of the Bureau. The final day of the Annual Session was devoted to a closing plenary session.

Canadian Participation:

·         Senator Vernon White attended the Helsinki +40 Seminar.

A.   Standing Committee

The 2014–2015 OSCE PA President, Ilkka Kanerva (Finland), chaired the Standing Committee meeting. During its meeting, the Standing Committee heard a report from the PA’s outgoing Treasurer, Mr. Roberto Battelli (Slovenia) and approved a budget increase of 2.4% increase in the budget to cover increased election observation activities, general administrative expenses, and expenses related to the Annual Session and the PA’s Research Fellowship Programme.

The Standing Committee also heard the report of outgoing Secretary General Spencer Oliver and subsequently elected Roberto Montella (Italy) as OSCE PA Secretary General beginning in 2016.[4]

The Standing Committee approved 15 supplementary items for debate at the Annual Session. Supplementary items are resolutions brought forward by parliamentarians to supplement the principal resolution to be debated in each General Committee. New rules of procedure, adopted at the 2013 Annual Session in Istanbul, limited the number of supplementary items that were considered by the Standing Committee and placed on the agenda for debate by the Assembly.^[5]

At the Standing Committee, President Kanerva announced that the Russian delegation had decided to boycott the Annual Session because a number of the delegates had been denied entry to Finland on the basis that they are subject to European Union (EU) sanctions, including a visa ban. The Russian parliament sent only Mr. Nikolay Kovalev, OSCE PA Special Representative on Anti-Terrorism, to the Standing Committee to represent the Russian Federation in that forum.

In light of the decision of the Russian Federation to boycott the Annual Session, there was a disagreement amongst the assembled Heads of Delegation regarding the appropriateness of debating the draft compromise supplementary item on the Continuation of Clear, Gross and Uncorrected Violations of OSCE Commitments and International Norms by the Russian Federation, sponsored by Mr. Dean Allison, M.P. of Canada and co-sponsored by Mr. Artur Gerasymov of Ukraine. Following a lively discussion,[6] the decision to debate the draft supplementary item secured the support of more than 2/3 of the Heads of Delegation present, as required by the OSCE PA Rules of Procedure,[7] and the decision was taken to refer the item to the plenary session for debate.

As required by the OSCE PA’s rules of procedure, the 2014 budget increase was adopted by consensus of all heads of delegation present at the meeting.

Canadian Participation:

·         Mr. Dean Allison, M.P. represented the Canadian delegation at the Standing Committee meeting.

B.   Plenary Sessions

Plenary Sessions were held on Monday, 6 July, Wednesday 8 July and Thursday 9 July 2015. On Monday 6 July 2015, delegates were welcomed to the Annual Session by OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva (Finland),[8] Sauli Niinisto, President of Finland,[9] and Timo Soini, Finland’s Foreign Minister.[10] During their remarks, all of the speakers touched on the future of the OSCE, the crisis in and around Ukraine, and the decision of Finland to enforce the EU visa ban against certain members of the Russian delegation. The Secretary General of the OSCE PA, Spencer Oliver, also presented the final report of the OSCE PA’s Helsinki +40 Project to the Plenary.[11] Remarks on the report and the future of the OSCE were made by Ivan Timofeev of the Russian International Affairs Council, Ivan Vejvoda of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Mats Karlsson of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and Teija Tiilikainen of the Finish Institute of International Affairs.[12]

Following the presentations, the plenary considered and adopted a supplementary item sponsored by Mr. Joao Soares (Portugal) on “Helsinki +40: Building the OSCE of the Future.”^[13] The plenary also began its consideration of a compromise supplementary item sponsored by Mr. Dean Allison, M.P. and co-sponsored by Mr. Artur Gerasymov (Ukraine) on the “Continuation of Clear, Gross and Uncorrected Violations of OSCE Commitments and International Norms by the Russian Federation”.

The plenary session on 8 July 2015 began with the annual gender address, delivered by Dr. Hedy Fry, M.P., in her capacity as OSCE PA Special Representative on Gender Issues, followed by a debate.

Consideration of Mr. Allison’s supplementary item also continued during the plenary session on 8 July 2015. Five amendments to Mr. Allison’s supplementary item were presented. Mr. Allison supported four of these amendments and took no position on the fifth. All of the amendments were adopted. Ultimately, the OSCE PA, in plenary voted to adopt Mr. Allison’s supplementary item, with 96 votes in favour, 7 against and 32 abstentions.[14] Many of the delegates who chose to formally abstain did so because they would have preferred not to consider the resolution in the absence of the delegation from the Russian Federation. For similar reasons, the French delegation decided not to participate in the voting in any way, and therefore did not vote in favour, against or abstain.

Next, an open debate was held in the plenary session, during which delegates intervened on a wide range of issues.

On Thursday 9 July, the OSCE PA held a closing plenary session, during which delegates voted to adopt the Helsinki Declaration and annexed resolutions.[15] The closing plenary also included a report by outgoing Treasurer Roberto Battelli on the PA’s budget, an address by the Secretary General of the OSCE, Lamberto Zannier, and remarks from OSCE Chairman-in-Office, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Ivica Dacic.[16]

Canadian Participation:

·         All Canadian parliamentarians attended the plenary sessions.

Mr. Dean Allison, M.P. presented his supplementary item on the “Continuation of Clear, Gross and Uncorrected Violations of OSCE Commitments and International Norms by the Russian Federation”. Asking for the support of PA delegates, Mr. Allison argued that a firm and united response to Russian aggression in Ukraine continues to be essential. He urged his fellow parliamentarians to maintain pressure on the Russian Federation to adhere to the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements and to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He explained that the supplementary item also emphasized the importance of dialogue and democratic reform, respect for international humanitarian law and human rights by all parties, the need for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to be given unhindered access and to carry out its work, and for a credible process to bring to justice those responsible for shooting down flight MH-17. Finally, he emphasized that his supplementary item gave the OSCE PA an opportunity to send a strong message: Russia must fully withdraw from Ukraine. Mr. Allison also responded to proposed amendments to his resolution, including by voicing support for four amendments proposed by United States (U.S.) Senator Roger Wicker calling for increased economic support to Ukraine.

Mr. Larry Miller, M.P. spoke during the debate on Mr. Allison’s supplementary item and voiced support for its adoption. Emphasizing that the OSCE PA ought not to tolerate the on-going Russian military aggression in Ukraine and the illegal occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Mr. Miller stressed that Russian forces must withdraw from Eastern Ukraine. He discussed the human toll of the conflict, which has killed at least 6,500 people, wounded 16,000, and displaced more than 1.3 million. In his remarks, Mr. Miller raised the need for greater humanitarian aid to be provided to Ukraine by the international community, in a manner that respects Ukrainian sovereignty. He also highlighted the ongoing illegal detention of Ukrainian citizens in the Russian Federation, and called for an end to the on-going violation of the OSCE’s foundational principles by the Russian Federation. Mr. Miller also spoke during the vote on the Helsinki Declaration in the closing plenary session to remind the assembled parliamentarians that the Russian delegation as a whole had not been prevented from attending the Annual Session; rather, the Russian delegation had chosen not to attend.

During the debate on the supplementary item on “Helsinki +40: Building the OSCE of the Future,” Dr. Hedy Fry, M.P. noted that various conflicts continue in the OSCE area and argued that a lack of trust is at the root of the current lack of cooperation between OSCE participating States on key issues. She also highlighted the difficulty that the OSCE has in taking measures in respect of participating States that do not respect their commitments.

In her gender address, Dr. Fry considered the successes and failures of the OSCE over the last 40 years, lessons learned, and areas of focus for strengthening the organization for the future. Dr. Fry argued that the goals of the 2004 OSCE Gender Action Plan[17] have only been modestly achieved to date. Dr. Fry reviewed achievements and noted areas where further progress is required on gender equality in each of the OSCE’s three dimensions (politico-military, economic and environmental, and human rights and humanitarian affairs), as well as enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the OSCE and OSCE PA.[18]

During the open debate, Senator Ghislain Maltais spoke about the humanitarian crisis in Syria and its connection to the dramatically increasing flow of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers into some European countries. The Senator underlined the fact that the lack of adequate humanitarian assistance within Syria and in neighbouring countries was a driving factor behind the flow of irregular Syrian asylum-seekers to Europe. He also voiced his sympathy for European countries trying to cope with this influx. He argued that OSCE participating States needed to share the burden of accepting Syrian refugees, and indicated that the burden should not fall only on the countries in which they first arrive.

C.   General Committee on Political Affairs and Security (First General Committee)

Chair: Roger Wicker (U.S.)

Vice-Chair: Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan)

Rapporteur: Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden)

The Committee considered and debated a draft report and resolution on the topic of “Recalling the Spirit of Helsinki,” submitted by the Rapporteur, Ms. Margareta Cederfelt of Sweden. Ms. Cederfelt was appointed by the President of the PA this spring after the Rapporteur elected in Baku, Pia Kauma (Finland), failed in her re-election bid. Presenting her report, Ms. Cederfelt discussed the crises in and around Ukraine, the relevance of the existing framework for conventional arms control in Europe, the threat of terrorism in the OSCE area, nuclear talks with Iran, the crisis of migration in the Mediterranean, anti-Semitism, the protracted conflicts in the OSCE area, and OSCE decision-making mechanisms. Following the presentation, delegates debated issues raised in the report and draft resolution, proposed and adopted amendments to the draft resolution, and adopted the resolution as amended.

The Committee then debated and adopted the following supplementary items proposed by OSCE parliamentarians:

·         Adherence to the Helsinki Principles in Inter-State Relations Across the OSCE Area (principal sponsor: Mr. Guliyev, Azerbaijan)

·         OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security: Awareness Raising, Dissemination, Better Implementation and Outreach (principal sponsor, Ms. Glanzmann, Switzerland)

·         The Co-operative Phase in Post-Conflict Borders: New Instruments and Actors for a Broader View of the Conflict Cycle (principal sponsor: Mr. Sanchez Amor, Spain)

·         A Comprehensive Legislative Reform on Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) from the OSCE Area (principal sponsor: Ms. De Pietro, Italy)

·         The Committee also acclaimed the following officers for 2015– 2016:

·         Roger Wicker (U.S.) – Chair

·         Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan) – Vice-Chair

·         Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden) – Rapporteur

Canadian Participation:

·         All members of the Canadian delegation attended meetings of the First General Committee and voted on the amendments to the draft resolution prepared by the rapporteur and on the supplementary items.

Senator Percy Downe intervened in the debate on the rapporteur’s report, to stress that Canada can be counted upon as a partner in the global fight against terrorist financing. He noted that Canada’s federal parliamentarians are engaged in examining both the scope of the problem of terrorist financing and possible domestic and international solutions to it. In his remarks, the Senator highlighted reports and recommendations by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance and the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce designed to increase the effectiveness of Canada’s anti–money laundering and anti–terrorist financing regimes.

Senator Vernon White presented one amendment which was adopted as part of the First General Committee resolution. The amendment added a reference to the October 2014 ISIL–inspired terrorist attacks in Canada, which included an attack on Canada’s parliament that directly targeted democracy, a core value of the OSCE as a whole and of the OSCE PA in particular. The Senator also intervened in the debate on a Russian-sponsored supplementary item on combatting terrorism, in order to emphasize the importance of the rule of law in counter-terrorism activities. The amendment was adopted by the Committee.

Dr. Hedy Fry, M.P. introduced a gender-related amendment to the First General Committee Resolution to add a paragraph addressing the representation and empowerment components that form an integral part of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325. The amendment was adopted by the Committee.

D.   General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment (Second General Committee)

Chair: Roza Aknazarova (Kyrgyzstan)

Vice-Chair: Nilza Sena (Portugal)

Rapporteur: Marietta Tidei (Italy)

The Committee considered and debated a draft report and resolution on the topic of “Recalling the Spirit of Helsinki,” submitted by the Rapporteur, Ms. Marietta Tidei of Italy. Ms. Tidei’s report and resolution covered a range of issues, including combatting corruption, regulation of the financial sector, climate change, the promotion of green growth and renewable energy technologies, and water management. The draft resolution also recalled the burden of migration for Southern European states. It encouraged the development of best practices to alleviate the burden of managing migration in some countries and urged a strengthening of economic cooperation with the OSCE’s Mediterranean Partners. Following the presentation, delegates debated issues raised in the report and draft resolution, proposed and adopted amendments to the draft resolution, and adopted the resolution as amended.

In addition, the Committee debated and adopted the following supplementary items proposed by OSCE parliamentarians:

·         Responsibility to Combat Human Trafficking in Government Contracts for Goods and Services (Mr. Smith, U.S.)

·         Environmental Challenges and Economic Opportunities in the High North (Mr. Solberg, Norway)

·         The Modernization of the System of National Contributions to the OSCE Budget (Mr. Battelli, Slovenia)

The following committee officers were acclaimed for 2015–2016:

·         Roza Aknazarova (Kyrgyzstan) – Chair

·         Nilza Sena (Portugal) – Vice-Chair

·         Marietta Tidei (Italy) – Rapporteur

Canadian Participation:

·         Senators Percy Downe, George Furey and Ghislain Maltais, Mr. James Rajotte, M.P., and Dr. Hedy Fry, M.P. attended the Second General Committee meetings.

Senator Percy Downe intervened during the debate on the rapporteur’s report to discuss the need to combat tax evasion. He stressed that in tight financial times, where every dollar counts and many citizens continue to suffer the effects of cutbacks in government programs, it is fundamentally unfair that some members of society may be hiding billions of dollars in foreign tax havens, leaving the rest of the population to make up the shortfall. The Senator also emphasized the importance of international cooperation to combat tax evasion and argued that OSCE participating States need to take coordinated action to ensure that there are no safe havens for tax evaders, money launderers, organized crime and other financial criminals.

Mr. James Rajotte, M.P. also participated in the debate to argue in favour of prudential financial regulation at the international level, and domestic as well as international regulation of the banking sector, such as that found in Canada and in the Basel II framework.[19] He also urged OSCE parliamentarians to improve the quality and quantity of bank capital in their jurisdictions to deal with systemic risk and implement the Basel III framework.[20] Mr. Rajotte also noted his disagreement with the imposition of financial transaction taxes called for in the draft resolution. He also urged the Committee to consider the importance of trade in the context of economic cooperation, mentioning the example of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.[21] Finally, on the subject of the Greek financial crisis, Mr. Rajotte emphasized his support for a strong European Union and offered the example of Canada to demonstrate the need for a fiscal union or fiscal federalism to support a monetary union.

Dr. Hedy Fry, M.P., spoke during the debate to stress the importance of the economic empowerment of women. Dr. Fry also sponsored three amendments to the Second General Committee draft resolution. The first amendment stressed the importance of ensuring that women have equal rights to economic resources, which include property, land and resource ownership, inheritance, as well as access to financial services. The second amendment added women’s economic empowerment to the list of common challenges that OSCE participating States need to address on the 40^th Anniversary of the adoption of the Helsinki Final Act. Dr. Fry’s third amendment encouraged participating States and OSCE parliamentarians to conduct a gender-based analysis of national economic policies, budgets and spending. All of Dr. Fry’s proposed amendments were adopted by the Committee.

E.   General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions (Third General Committee)

Chair: Isabel Santos (Portugal)

Vice-Chair: Vacant

Rapporteur: Gordana Comic (Serbia)

The Committee considered and debated a draft report and resolution on the topic of “Recalling the Spirit of Helsinki,” submitted by the Rapporteur, Ms. Gordana Comic of Serbia. The draft report focused on strengthening the human dimension at the OSCE, noting that current decision-making structures such as the Human Dimension Implementation Meetings are inadequate. Likewise, field missions have had their mandates to monitor and report on human rights issues diluted. In addition, the draft called for the OSCE Ministerial Council to recognize the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and for OSCE participating States to rescind anti-LGBT legislation. It also deplored the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and the abuse of minorities in Crimea, calling for participating States to increase efforts to assist those fleeing their homes for fear of their safety or due to persecution.

In addition, the Committee debated and adopted the following resolutions proposed by OSCE parliamentarians:

·         Missing Persons in Connection with Armed Conflicts (Mr. Hadjiyianni, Cyprus)

·         Abducted and Illegally Detained Ukrainian Citizens in the Russian Federation (Mr. Semerak, Ukraine)

·         Calling For Urgent Solutions to the Tragedy of Deaths in the Mediterranean (Ms. Tidei, Italy)

·         Women and Girls Made Vulnerable by Armed Conflict, Crisis or Minority Status (Ms. Fry, Canada)

·         The following Committee officers were elected for 20152016:

·         Isabel Santos (Portugal) – Chair

·         Ivana Dobesova (Czech Republic) – Vice-Chair

·         Gordana Comic (Serbia) – Rapporteur

Canadian Participation:

·         All Canadian parliamentarians attended meetings of the Third General Committee.

Senator George Furey intervened during the debate on the Rapporteur’s report and draft resolution. He agreed with the Rapporteur’s call for human rights monitoring by robust and independent institutions with public reporting. For such monitoring and reporting to be effective, he argued, there must be effective measures in place to prevent corruption and ensure accountability where corruption is discovered. Good governance is essential to ensuring that human rights are respected, in conjunction with the rule of law, ethical standards of behaviour, transparency and accountability. He also stressed the need for international cooperation to address these important issues.

Dr. Hedy Fry, M.P., participated in the same debate to stress the importance of speaking out when participating States violate the Helsinki principles. She praised the rapporteur for including the human rights of LGBT people in her resolution. Dr. Fry also proposed three amendments to the Third General Committee draft resolution, all of which were adopted. The first welcomed the work of OSCE institutions in monitoring and calling attention to violations of gender equality; the second emphasized the importance of renewed efforts to ensure that gender is mainstreamed throughout the OSCE and the OSCE PA as part of the Helsinki +40 process; and the third highlighted some of the steps that parliamentarians can take to raise awareness and boost women’s participation in politics and other realms of public life. Finally, Dr. Fry proposed a supplementary item on “Women and Girls Made Vulnerable by Armed Conflict, Crisis or Minority Status.” The Committee adopted this supplementary item with three amendments and it was annexed to the 2015 OSCE PA Helsinki Declaration.[22]

F.    Elections

During the closing plenary session, elections were held for three Vice-Presidential positions. Mr. Robert Alderholdt (U.S.) was re-elected as a Vice-President of the OSCE PA, while Mr. Roberto Battelli (Slovenia) and Lord Peter Bowness (United Kingdom) were elected as Vice-Presidents for the first time. President Ilkka Kanerva (Finland) was acclaimed for a second one-year term and Ms. Doris Barnett (Germany) was acclaimed as Treasurer. Therefore, the new OSCE PA Bureau for 2015–2016 includes the following elected office-holders:

·         President

Ilkka Kanerva (Finland)

·         Vice-Presidents

Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (Lithuania)

Isabel Pozuelo (Spain)

Alain Neri (France)

Robert Aderholt (United States)

Kent Harstedt (Sweden)

Christine Muttonen (Austria)

George Tsereteli (Georgia)

Roberto Battelli (Slovenia)

Lord Peter Bowness (United Kingdom)

·         Treasurer

Doris Barnett (Germany)  

·         Committee Officers

§  First Committee (Political Affairs and Security)

Roger Wicker (United States) - Chair

Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan) - Vice-Chair

Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden) - Rapporteur

§  Second Committee (Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment

Roza Aknazarova (Kyrgyzstan) - Chair

Nilza Sena (Portugal) - Vice-Chair

Marietta Tidei (Italy) - Rapporteur

§  Third Committee (Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions)

Isabel Santos (Portugal) - Chair

Ivana Dobesova (Czech Republic) - Vice-Chair

Gordana Comic (Serbia) - Rapporteur

§  President Emeritus

Ranko Krivokapic (Montenegro)

G.   Additional Activities of the Canadian Delegation

Dr. Hedy Fry, M.P., co-hosted the OSCE PA’s annual gender lunch, along with the Parliament of Finland. The theme of the luncheon was “Gender equality on the fortieth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325: women, peace and security.” Ms. Elizabeth Rehn, former Defence Minister of Finland and Undersecretary General of the United Nations, gave the keynote address. Participants also discussed the following question: “From commitment to action: in your opinion what is lacking to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls?” Dr. Fry also attended a side-event hosted by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.

Members of the Canadian delegation attended receptions hosted by the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament and by the President of Finland, and held side meetings with the Ukrainian and Israeli delegations. The Canadian delegation was also briefed by the staff of Canada’s Embassy to Finland.

Respectfully submitted,