News and press releases

COPENHAGEN, 26 February 2021 – Meeting virtually today, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s committees on economic and environmental affairs and human rights and democracy discussed the impacts of COVID-19, as well as other pertinent issues. It was the first time that the two committees have met – albeit in an online format – since the coronavirus outbreak last year. The meetings featured speeches by committee leaders, presentations by high-level OSCE officials, and wide-ranging debates with the participation of dozens of parliamentarians from North America, Europe and Central Asia.

COPENHAGEN, 19 February 2021 – Taking stock of migratory developments in the OSCE region over the last several months, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Migration met today and discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the precarious conditions in which refugees and asylum seekers find themselves. The meeting also focused on developing synergies between the OSCE’s executive structures and OSCE parliamentarians in the area of combating trafficking in human beings along migration routes.

COPENHAGEN, 1 February 2021 – Recent reports of conditions for detained protesters in Belarus, including widespread allegations of abuse and torture, must be addressed by the international community, said leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee today. They highlighted several ongoing cases of political prisoners, including that of Igor Losik, who recently ended a 42-day hunger strike, and called on the Belarusian authorities to accept visits from international organizations to learn more about the situation in prisons.

COPENHAGEN, 27 January 2021 – With more than 130 participants, including former OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Presidents, OSCE Chairs, Secretaries General, current and former leaders of OSCE institutions, as well as members of OSCE PA Delegations, an online roundtable was held today under the theme, “Toward Helsinki +50: Reaffirming a Common Purpose.” Featuring keynote addresses from Christian Strohal, who served as Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights from 2003 to 2008, and Douglas Wake, Senior Expert at the OSCE Office of the Secretary General, the event followed up on the “OSCE Call for Action: Reaffirming a Common Purpose” with a view towards the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act in 2025...

COPENHAGEN, 26 January 2021 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Lord Bowness (United Kingdom) and OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid were among the speakers at today’s meeting of the Assembly leadership, held in an online format. OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella also addressed the meeting, providing an overview of upcoming Assembly activities and ongoing work...

COPENHAGEN, 18 January 2021 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights leaders today decried the detention of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny. In response to his arrest Sunday at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, the officers of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Chair Kyriakos Hadjiyianni (MP, Cyprus), Vice-Chair Michael Georg Link (MP, Germany), and Rapporteur Kari Henriksen (MP, Norway) issued the following joint statement:

COPENHAGEN, 5 January 2021 – Roberto Montella of Italy has begun a second five-year term as Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, following his re-election by the Assembly’s Standing Committee at the 2019 Luxembourg Annual Session.