Events - The European Commission's Delegation to the International Organisations in Vienna

On the occasion of her visit to Vienna, Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner met with Executive Director of UNODC, Mr. Antonio M. Costa (left) and with Director-General of UNIDO, Mr. Kandeh Yumkella (right) for an exchange of views on a number of topical issues.

On the eve of Europe Day, the Delegation invited members of the multilateral community in Vienna in order to commemorate and celebrate the so-called “Schuman Declaration”.

On 9 May 1950 in Paris, the French foreign minister Robert Schuman read to the international press a declaration calling France, Germany and other European countries to pool together their coal and steel production as "the first concrete foundation of a European federation". With this proposal for a supranational European institution everything what is now the European Union began that day. That is why during the Milan Summit of EU leaders in 1985 it was decided to celebrate 9 May as "Europe Day". Read more about Europe Day, the Schuman Declaration as well as about the other European symbols here.

On the occasion of her visit to Vienna where she i.a. addressed a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council (for more details see full text of the speech as well as the OSCE website), the Commissioner also had the opportunity to address a large gathering of representatives of the international organisations in Vienna at a reception hosted by Delegation in Palais Pallavicini. On that occasion, Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner stressed the importance of multilateral effectiveness as a key objective in the European Security Strategy and the important contributions of the international organisations in Vienna in confronting some of today's most topical security challenges.

On 16 October 2007, Mr. Lars-Erik LUNDIN has taken up his duties as Head of Delegation. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Lundin was serving as Deputy Political Director and Head of the Security Policy Unit, Directorate-General for External Relations in the European Commission. For more details see Mr. Lundin’s biography.

Among Amb. Lundin’s first tasks were the presentation of his credentials to Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, Director-General of United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) and Executive Director of UNODC, to Director General of IAEA, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, as well as to Director-General Kandeh Yumkella, UNIDO and to OSCE Secretary-General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.

Amb. Lars- Erik Lundin presents his letter of credentials to OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, 23 October 2007

Presentation of letter of credentials to Director-General Kandeh Yumkella, UNIDO, 19 October 2007.

In order to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the signature of the Treaties of Rome, the Delegation hosted a Reception on its premises on 20 March 2007. The well-attended “birthday party” brought together ambassadors and representatives from Vienna’s multilateral diplomatic community as well as from the political and cultural spheres.

At the same time, it was the occasion for the Head of the Delegation, Ambassador Christian D. Falkowski, to say farewell before leaving Vienna on completion of his assignment at the end the month.

The 14th OSCE Ministerial Council took place on 4 and 5 December 2006 in Brussels under the Belgian OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office.

Along with the Finish Presidency of the European Union, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations and the European Neighbourhood Policy, delivered a statement emphasizing the continued excellent cooperation between the European Commission and the OSCE in 2006. She also highlighted the commitment of the Commission 1to further support the OSCE’s work, in particular in the fields of election observation, border management, energy and environmental security.

The Ministerial Council adopted a series of decisions and other documents on a range of issues covered by the three dimensions of the OSCE’s approach to security. The Belgian Chairmanship also issued a formal statement summarizing the outcome of the Ministerial Council.

Statements by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland on behalf or the European Union:

EU opening statement, EU closing statement.

The Delegation invited two representatives of the Kyrgyz NGO “Public Association of Soldiers’ Mothers” (PASM) to give a presentation on their advocacy and lobbying activities on behalf of men conscripted into the Kyrgyz army.

Galina Afonina (Chairwoman of PASM) and Svetlana Suslova (mass media editor) used the occasion to explain the main goals of PASM, i.e. to promote human rights within the armed forces, to advocate improved civilian control over the armed forces and to offer practical education to servicemen on participating in elections.

In addition to the presentation and the following questions and answers session during the side event itself, PASM representatives had i) a separate meeting with the EU Troika, ii) contacts with other NGOs dealing with similar issues and iii) exchanges with national delegates.

Furthermore, we supported them in establishing contacts with the officer in ODIHR in charge of a project for a handbook on best practices on human rights in the armed forces. This exchange was considered by both sides as particularly beneficial and useful and will certainly contribute to closer cooperation between PASM and ODIHR in the future.

The event was an excellent opportunity for highlighting on the one hand the dedicated, still unknown, work of the civil society in promoting human rights in the armed forces and on the other hand, the often equally unnoticed support of the European Commission in this endeavour.

Background: PASM was established in 1994 in response to problems then common in the Kyrgyz armed forces, such as widespread hazing (dedovshchina) of conscripts and petty corruption. It undertakes monitoring visits to military units, has set up a telephone hotline conscripts can call to report abuse and arranges contests to reward those army units which best observed conscripts’ rights. Over several years, the PASM developed a fruitful dialogue with the Ministry of Defence and army; the Minister of Defence had given full support to the campaign to eliminate hazing.

With the financial support of the European Commission through the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), PASM tries to spread its message throughout Kyrgyzstan. It has produced a booklet aimed at conscripts – Your Rights, Soldier! – which summarises their rights as soldiers. The PASM also produces a regular magazine distributed to soldiers as well as a monthly television programme which discusses conscripts’ rights.

PASM has also developed a wider advocacy role, and has successfully lobbied for two important legislative changes in recent years. Compulsory military service has been reduced from two years to one year, while conscripts are now entitled to a cash payment on their discharge from the army after one year’s service to enable them to enter higher education.

It had also launched a campaign to raise consciousness among soldiers concerning voting in elections. Many conscripts had only a basic understanding of the democratic process and so PASM had launched training seminars to develop their understanding of the electoral process and to assist them to make informed choices.