July 2017 Plenary Meetings of the Permanent Council

Address by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, H.E. Angelino Alfano. Update by the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Martin Sajdik. Report by the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan. The Permanent Council adopted Decision No. 1264 on the extension of the deployment of OSCE observers to two Russian checkpoints on the Russian-Ukrainian border (Ukraine, interpretative statement 1; Estonia-European Union, interpretative statement 2; United States of America, interpretative statement 3; Russian Federation, interpretative statement 4). The Permanent Council adopted Decision No. 1265 on the agenda for the 2017 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. Commemoration of the attempted terrorist coup in Turkey in July 2016. The Russian language in Lithuania. Attempts by NATO to glorify the so-called “Forest Brothers” and to rewrite the history of the Second World War. Ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Russian Federation. International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, marked on 26 June. Continued reports of gross violations of human rights by the Chechen authorities. Illegal so-called “elections” in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. “Presidential elections” in Nagorno-Karabakh, held on 19 July 2017. Situation of LGBTI persons in Chechnya. The Permanent Council placed the decision on the topic and dates of the Human Dimension Seminar in Warsaw, the text of which is appended to this journal, under a silence procedure with the period of silence expiring on Wednesday, 26 July 2017, at 5 p.m. CET. The Permanent Council placed the decision on the agenda, timetable and other organizational modalities of the 2017 Human Dimension Seminar, the text of which is appended to this journal, under a silence procedure with the period of silence expiring on Wednesday, 26 July 2017, at 5 p.m. CET. Ministerial Council decisions on the appointments of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and the OSCE Secretary General (Estonia-European Union, Annex 1; Canada, Annex 2; Georgia, Annex 3). Announcement by the Chairperson-in-Office, in a letter issued on 18 July 2017 (Annex 4), of the adoption through a silence procedure of Ministerial Council Decision No. 1/17 on the appointment of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, the text of which is appended to this journal (Kazakhstan, interpretative statement 1; Russian Federation, also on behalf of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, interpretative statement 2; United States of America, interpretative statement, see attachment 3; Azerbaijan, interpretative statement 4). Announcement by the Chairperson-in-Office, in a letter issued on 18 July 2017 (Annex 5), of the adoption through a silence procedure of Ministerial Council Decision No. 2/17 on the appointment of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the text of which is appended to this journal (Kazakhstan, interpretative statement 1; Russian Federation, also on behalf of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, interpretative statement 2; Azerbaijan, interpretative statement 3; United States of America, interpretative statement 4). Announcement by the Chairperson-in-Office, in a letter issued on 18 July 2017 (Annex 6), of the adoption through a silence procedure of Ministerial Council Decision No. 3/17 on the appointment of the Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the text of which is appended to this journal (Kazakhstan, interpretative statement 1; Russian Federation, also on behalf of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, interpretative statement 2; Azerbaijan, interpretative statement 3; United States of America, interpretative statement 4; Austria, interpretative statement 5). Announcement by the Chairperson-in-Office, in a letter issued on 18 July 2017 (Annex 7), of the adoption through a silence procedure of Ministerial Council Decision No. 4/17 on the appointment of the OSCE Secretary General, the text of which is appended to this journal (Kazakhstan, interpretative statement 1; Russian Federation, also on behalf of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, interpretative statement 2; Azerbaijan, interpretative statement 3; United States of America, interpretative statement 4). Farewell to the Permanent Representative of the European Union to the OSCE, Ambassador T. Béchet. Parliamentary elections in Austria, to be held on 15 October 2017. Twenty-sixth Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, held in Minsk from 5 to 9 July 2017. Parliamentary elections in Norway, to be held on 11 September 2017. Presidential elections in Mongolia, held on 26 June and 7 July 2017.