Basic decisions

Establishment: 18th CSO Meeting, 13 December 1992, Journal No. 3, Annex 2

Terms of Ref.: 19th CSO Meeting, 3 February 1993, Journal No. 2, Annex 1

Tasks

According to the CSO Decision from 13 December 1992, the objective of the Mission was to further promote integration and better understanding between the communities in Estonia.

The mandate contained in the Terms of Reference consisted of the following elements:

• establish and maintain contacts with competent authorities on both the national and the local level, in particular with those responsible for citizenship, migration, language questions, social services and employment;
• establish and maintain contacts with relevant non-governmental institutions and organizations, including political parties, trade unions and mass media organizations;
• collect information and serve as a clearing-house for information, technical assistance and advice on matters relating to the status of the communities in Estonia and the rights and duties of their members;
• contribute to the efforts of Estonian national and local authorities to re-create a civic society, inter alia through the promotion of local mechanisms to facilitate dialogue and understanding;
• keeping in mind the temporary nature of the Mission, consider ways and means of transferring its responsibilities to institutions or organizations representing the local population.

Deployment

The Mission started its work on 15 February 1993 in Tallinn. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Estonia was signed the same day.

In addition to the office in Tallinn, the Mission had established offices in Jõhvi and in Narva.

Duration

According to the MoU, the Mission is established for a period of six month from the date of signature; extension of this period may be decided by participating States. Subsequent prolongations of the Mandate were decided at:

• 18th CSO Vienna Group Meeting, 24 June 1993: until 3 February 1994;
• 5th Permanent Committee Meeting, 20 January 1994: until 30 June 1994;
• 25th Permanent Committee Meeting, 23 June 1994: until 31 December 1994;
• 1st Permanent Council (PC), PC.DEC/1, 15 December 1994: until 30 June 1995;
• 25th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/48, 13 June 1995: until 31 December 1995;
• 48th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/90, 30 November 1995: until 30 June 1996;
• 68th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/119, 9 May 1996: until 31 December 1996;
• 92nd PC Meeting, PC.DEC/142, 14 November 1996: until 30 June 1997;
• 119th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/172, 10 June 1997: until 31 December 1997;
• 141st PC Meeting, PC.DEC/197, 27 November 1997: until 30 June 1998;
• 172nd PC Meeting, PC.DEC/230, 11 June 1998: until 31 December 1998;
• 200th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/273, 26 November 1998: until 30 June 1999;
• 235th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/297, 17 June 1999: until 31 December 1999;
• 261st PC Meeting, PC.DEC/328, 9 December 1999: until 30 June 2000;
• 287th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/358, 15 June 2000: until 31 December 2000;
• 313th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/390, 7 December 2000: until 30 June 2001;
• 345th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/421, 28 June 2001: until 31 December 2001.

The mandate of the Mission to Estonia expired on 31 December 2001.

Composition

According to the Terms of Reference, the authorized strength of the Mission was 6 members.

The last Head of Mission was Ambassador Doris Hertrampf of Germany.