Basic decisions

Establishment: 129th Meeting of the Permanent Council, 18 September 1997, Decision No. 185 (PC.DEC/185).

Tasks

Through PC Decision 185 of 18 September 1997, the Permanent Council decided to establish an OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus, which, in co-operation with Belarusian authorities and other international organizations, would perform the following tasks:

• assist the Belarusian authorities in promoting democratic institutions and in complying with other OSCE commitments; and
• monitor and report on this process.

Deployment

The Group started work in Minsk in January 1998, a memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Belarus and the OSCE on the AMG having been signed on 18 December 1997.

Duration

No limitations as to the duration of the Group's work had been set at the time of its establishment. Through PC Decision 526 of 30 December 2002, the Permanent Council decided to close the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus on 31 December 2002.

Composition

The Advisory and Monitoring Group is staffed by a Head of Group and a team of 4 experts on all relevant aspects.

Ambassador Hans-Georg Wieck (Germany) completed his assignment as Head of Group in December 2001.