OSCE PA launches COVID-19 response web page, prepares first webinar

COPENHAGEN, 20 April 2020 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly published today a new web page covering the Assembly’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Featuring sections on the OSCE PA’s public messaging, inter-parliamentary dialogue, an overview of OSCE participating States’ responses to the crisis, and a timeline of OSCE PA actions and decisions, the new web page is intended to consolidate the many activities related to the crisis, demonstrating that even in a period of lockdown, the PA continues its work on behalf of the citizens of the OSCE area.

“The coronavirus crisis has hit the world hard over the past couple months,” said OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella today. “Like many businesses, schools and other institutions, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has had to adapt to new realities of social distancing and mitigation of this unprecedented threat to public health. With staff telecommuting and meetings of parliamentarians postponed, cancelled or shifted to online formats, the PA has continued to function admirably under the circumstances.”

He added that he hopes the web page will serve as a communication tool in strengthening the international community’s overall response to the multifaceted challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new web page collects more than a dozen press releases and op-eds, including a just-published article by Secretary General Montella on the role of mulltilateral organizations and parliaments in addressing the crisis.

A series of infographics collected on the web page offer analysis and highlight key information aggregated for the entire OSCE region, as well as reflect on important aspects of the work of parliaments.

The web page also outlines upcoming activities of the Assembly, including a webinar this Wednesday on “The Economic Security Fallout of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” featuring a presentation by Prof. Giovanni Tria, a former Italian Minister of Economy and Finance. The event will be broadcast live on Facebook at www.facebook.com/oscepa.

On 27 April, the OSCE PA Bureau is meeting in an online format with presentations by the OSCE Chair-in-Office, Prime Minister and Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania Edi Rama, as well as the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Ambassador Janez Lenarcic.

To read more about the OSCE PA’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, please visit the new web page here: www.oscepa.org/activities/covid-19-crisis-response