Mission survey

1. Basic Decisions

Establishment:

429th Meeting of the Permanent Council, 30 December 2002, Decision No. 526
(PC.DEC/526).

2. Tasks

The OSCE Office in Minsk has been given the following tasks:

• Assist the Belarusian Government in further promoting institution building, in further consolidating the rule of law and in developing relations with civil society, in accordance with OSCE principles and commitments;
• Assist the Belarusian Government in its efforts in developing economic and
  environmental activities;
• Monitor and report accurately on the above-mentioned objectives.

3. Deployment

The first Head of the Office started work in Minsk on 10 February 2003.

4. Duration

This mandate initially applied until 31 December 2003. The prolongation and any changes of this mandate are subject to a new decision of the OSCE Permanent Council, on an annual basis.

The mandate of the Office was prolonged at:

• 488th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/589, 18 December 2003: until 31 December 2004;
• 538th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/655, 16 December 2004: until 31 December 2005;
• 584th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/710, 15 December 2005: until 31 December 2006.
• 644th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/775, 28 December 2006: until 31 December 2007.
• 693rd PC Meeting, PC.DEC/837, 27 December 2007: until 31 December 2008.
• 742nd PC Meeting, PC.DEC/874, 27 November 2008: until 31 December 2009.
• 788th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/925, 30 December 2009: until 31 December 2010.

5. Composition

The OSCE Office in Minsk is staffed by a Head of Office assisted by a team of experts. The total number of staff is 13, comprising 5 internationals and 8 nationals.

The Head of Office (since 15 January 2010) is Ambassador Benedikt Haller of Germany.

6. Financial Implications

The OSCE Unified Budget for 2010, adopted on 22 December 2009, PC.DEC/923, established the budget of the OSCE Office in Minsk at EUR 1,169,100.