April 2016 Plenary Meetings of the Permanent Council

Report by the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Ambassador Michael Scanlan. Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine and illegal occupation of Crimea. Situation in Ukraine and the need to implement the Minsk agreements. Violation of the rights of children in Norway. Ban of the website of the Russian news agency “Sputnik” in Turkey. Statement on Ms. L. and Mr. A. Yunus in Azerbaijan. Report on the activities of the Chairperson-in-Office.

Prior to taking up the agenda, the Chairperson informed the Permanent Council that the Chairperson-in-Office, in a letter (Annex) issued on 23 March 2016, had announced the adoption through a silence procedure of Ministerial Council Decision No. 1/16 on the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (Netherlands-European Union, interpretative statement 1; Canada, interpretative statement 2; Russian Federation, interpretative statement 3; Switzerland, interpretative statement 4; United States of America, interpretative statement 5). Permanent Council adopted Decision No. 1205 on the extension of the deployment of OSCE observers to two Russian checkpoints on the Russian-Ukrainian border (Netherlands-European Union, interpretative statement 1; United States of America, interpretative statement 2; Ukraine, interpretative statement 3; Russian Federation, interpretative statement 4). Report by the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, Dr. Halil Yurdakul Yigitgüden. Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine and illegal occupation of Crimea. Situation in Ukraine and the need to implement the Minsk agreements. Abduction and illegal detention of Ukrainian citizens by the Russian Federation. Parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, held on 20 March 2016. International Roma Day, to be observed on 8 April 2016. Conviction of Mr. Radovan Karadžić by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The death penalty in Belarus. The death penalty in the United States of America. Thirty-fifth round of the Geneva International Discussions, held on 22 and 23 March 2016. Neo-Nazism in Latvia. Planned demolition of Soviet monuments in Poland. Violations by the United States of America of its OSCE commitments and international humanitarian law with regard to the Russian citizens Mr. K. Yaroschenko and Mr. V. Bout. On the banning of broadcasting of the Russian news agency “Sputnik”. Report on the activities of the Chairperson-in-Office.