News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Kazakhstan elections efficiently organized, some progress, still considerable way to go to meet OSCE election commitments, international observers say
Publishing date: 21 March 2016
ASTANA, 21 March 2016 – The 20 March early parliamentary elections were efficiently organized, with some progress noted, but they indicated that Kazakhstan still has a considerable way to go in meeting its OSCE commitments for democratic elections, international observers concluded in a preliminary statement released today. The legal framework restricts fundamental civil and political rights, and comprehensive reform is required. In a positive development, candidate registration was inclusive, and six parties contested the elections.
OSCE PA President, human rights Chair welcome Azerbaijan pardons
Publishing date: 18 March 2016
COPENHAGEN, 17 March 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) and the Chairperson of the OSCE PA Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), today welcomed the release of 148 individuals serving jail terms in Azerbaijan following a pardon decree issued by President Ilham Aliyev...
In Washington, OSCE PA Secretary General and U.S. lawmakers discuss Assembly priorities
Publishing date: 16 March 2016
WASHINGTON, 16 March 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Roberto Montella met with high-ranking members of the U.S. Delegation to the PA in Washington this week for discussions on the Assembly’s current and future work and a range of pressing OSCE issues...
OSCE PA President deplores terror attack in Turkey
Publishing date: 14 March 2016
COPENHAGEN, 14 March 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) issued the following statement on the 13 March terrorist attack in Ankara:...
OSCE parliamentarians to observe early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan
Publishing date: 9 March 2016
COPENHAGEN, 9 March 2016 – OSCE parliamentarians will observe the upcoming early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan and provide leadership for the OSCE’s short-term observer mission...
Migration and security in focus, as OSCE PA Chairperson Santos, Secretary General Montella address Rome panels
Publishing date: 4 March 2016
ROME, 4 March 2016 – The Chairperson of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), and OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella addressed high-level panels in Rome this week on the crisis of migrants and refugees and the international community’s response...
Migrants crisis, Ukraine in focus as OSCE PA Winter Meeting opens
Publishing date: 25 February 2016
VIENNA, 25 February 2016 – Nearly 300 lawmakers from Europe, Asia and North America, including four speakers of parliament, assembled today in Vienna for the opening of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 2016 Winter Meeting, its first major convocation of the year...