News and press releases

VIENNA, 24 February 2022 – Referring to the Russian military operation in Ukraine as “indefensible” and a “gross violation of international law,” OSCE parliamentarians gathered in the hybrid Winter Meeting urged an immediate end to the hostilities and a return to diplomacy. Some 28 parliamentarians took the floor in an open debate, with most expressing clear opposition to the incursion and deep concern for the lives of civilians in Ukraine.

WARSAW/VIENNA, 21 February 2022 – The OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Foreign Minister of Poland, Zbigniew Rau, OSCE Secretary General Schmid, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Margareta Cederfelt (MP, Sweden) and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Roberto Montella strongly condemned the decision by Russia to recognize certain areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as independent and made the following statement:

COPENHAGEN, 8 November 2021 – Halfway through the 26th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP26) taking place in Glasgow, the leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s economic and environmental committee, together with its envoys on Arctic issues and Sustainable Development Goals, have issued a “Parliamentary Plea for Resolute Climate Action.”

ATHENS, 22 October 2021 – Speaking today at the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Athens, OSCE Parliamentary President Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden) called for greater attention to the OSCE from national parliaments and governments. She highlighted next month’s UN Climate Change Conference as an example of how countries need to work closely together to meet global problems, and stressed that despite recent setbacks and challenges in the international arena, there is a need for more solidarity and co-operation, not a retreat to unilateralism.

COPENHAGEN, 20 October 2021 – Today’s Call for Action – Helsinki +50 meeting hosted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly focused on challenges in the human dimension of security, with participants offering ideas for ways forward to build accountability among OSCE countries and renew governments’ human rights commitments.

COPENHAGEN, 18 October 2021 – The governments of Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland must work together to ensure that persons trapped in the border area between their countries have access to food, water, adequate health care and temporary shelter, the leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Migration and the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions said today.

COPENHAGEN, 18 October 2021 – More than 70 OSCE parliamentarians from 24 countries will deploy this week to Uzbekistan for the 24 October presidential election. The OSCE PA observers will work closely with colleagues from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, as well as the European Parliament.