"OSCE Chairmanship and Secretariat had no authority and mandate to dispatch such a mission without the prior consent of the parties directly concerned, in this case, Azerbaijan and Armenia," it was stated in the statement released during the budget discussions of the organization for 2023 in the OSCE Permanent Council on behalf of the Delegation of Azerbaijan to the OSCE, APA reports.
"The press release distributed by the Secretariat on 19 October 2022, allegedly on behalf of the OSCE, on sending the so-called "needs assessment team to Armenia" demonstrates that there is a total failure by the Chairmanship and the Secretariat to ensure transparency and accountability within the Organization.
To remind, the OSCE's toolbox contains a series of mechanisms and procedures on early warning, conflict prevention, and crisis management, including those related to fact-finding missions, that were developed within the context of the OSCE's concept of comprehensive security. Most importantly, they are cooperative in nature, which means that their activation requires an agreement from all States, especially prior consent and active support of the parties directly concerned in a particular situation.
This was the case when at the request of the Government of Azerbaijan, the OSCE dispatched a Fact-Finding Mission in 2005 to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and a Field Assessment Mission to these territories in 2010. The OSCE agreed to dispatch those missions only after both Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to them. The Needs Assessment Mission, which Azerbaijan had been requesting to be dispatched to its territories before the renewed aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan in September 2020, was never accomplished by the OSCE under the pretext that there was no agreement from Armenia.
The OSCE and its executive structures and Institutions have failed to address and correct the gross violations by Armenia of the OSCE principles and commitments with regard to the formerly occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Because of the opposition from Armenia, the OSCE Secretariat and Institutions were reluctant to cooperate with Azerbaijan in the areas proposed by my country.
The OSCE Chairmanship and Secretariat had no authority and mandate to dispatch such a mission without the prior consent of the parties directly concerned, in this case, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The informal consultations on this matter clearly demonstrated that there was no consensus within the Organization on sending such a so-called "needs assessment team" to the border between the two countries. Evidently, the outgoing Polish Chairmanship failed to ensure that its actions are not inconsistent with positions agreed upon by all the participating States and that the whole spectrum of opinions of participating States is taken into account. It is particularly deploring that such a visit was announced without prior consultation with Azerbaijan and notification while the discussions were still ongoing.
Such ill-advised unilateral action from the OSCE Chairmanship and the Secretariat is also against the basic tenet of any responsible and credible mediation and confidence building, which requires, inter alia, the consent of parties, the impartiality of the mediators, and compliance with obligations of States under international law. As such, this initiative cannot and will not be considered an OSCE-mandated activity. No OSCE funds and assets shall be utilized for such a non-consensual action. Azerbaijan rejects this unilateral decision and will not cooperate with and will not accept the outcomes of this private tour of a group of individuals from a few participating States.
The Delegation of Azerbaijan reminds that in accordance with the OSCE Rules of Procedure, only documents adopted by the OSCE decision-making bodies, such as decisions, statements, declarations, reports, letters, or other documents, can be referred to as OSCE decisions or documents. Only they reflect the agreed views of all the participating States and have a politically binding character for all the participating States. Documents issued by the Chairpersons of OSCE decision-making bodies or by OSCE executive structures are not regarded as OSCE documents."
