News and press releases

COPENHAGEN, 16 July 2020 – The leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions expressed concern today that Belarus had failed to extend a timely invitation to the OSCE to observe its upcoming presidential election. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) announced yesterday that the lack of an invitation has prevented ODIHR from observing the election process...

COPENHAGEN, 13 July 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic, as an unprecedented global crisis that impacts all dimensions of security, has underlined the urgency of addressing long-standing challenges facing the OSCE area, including resolving conflicts, promoting environmental sustainability, managing migration, and ensuring democratic resiliency and social cohesion, a new OSCE Parliamentary Assembly report concludes.

COPENHAGEN, 9 July 2020 – The Vice-Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, Michael Georg Link (Germany), and Secretary General Roberto Montella discussed today with European Parliament member Nacho Sanchez Amor the need for increased efforts by parliaments to combat fake election observation activities. The practice of state authorities and their proxy organizations arranging visits for international actors outside of the institutional international election observation platforms organized under the auspices of the OSCE/ODIHR, OSCE PA, PACE, NATO PA and the European Parliament is a growing challenge, they said...

COPENHAGEN, 9 July 2020 – Responding to reports that executions are set to resume on the federal level in the United States for the first time since 2003, the leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee renewed calls for universal abolition of the death penalty. Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (Cyprus), Michael Link (Germany), and Kari Henriksen (Norway), the Chair, Vice-Chair and Rapporteur, respectively, of the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, regretted the decision and urged the U.S. government to reconsider.

COPENHAGEN, 8 July 2020 – OSCE matters ranging from the valuable work of the field operations and conflict resolution efforts to budgetary issues and political deadlock were in focus today during a bilateral meeting between OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Roberto Montella and Albania’s Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj...

COPENHAGEN, 7 July 2020 – Some 40 members of parliament participated in a virtual meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Standing Committee today, hearing reports from the PA President, Treasurer, Secretary General, and holding debates on international issues in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Comprised of heads of national delegations and the elected members of the Bureau, the Standing Committee meets three times a year to guide the work of the Assembly and would have met in Vancouver this week had the 2020 Annual Session not been cancelled due to the pandemic...

COPENHAGEN, 6 July 2020 – Meeting virtually with officials of the European Union, members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Migration have focused in recent days on the situation of vulnerable migrants, new asylum procedures in Europe, and providing assistance to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 amongst migrant and refugee populations.