Newsroom
News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Parliamentary Assembly’s virtual roundtable seeks to reaffirm OSCE’s common purpose ahead of 50th anniversary
Publishing date: 28 January 2021
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
What we do: Conflict prevention and resolution
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...
PA Bureau members hear from OSCE Secretary General, discuss Assembly work in virtual meeting
Publishing date: 26 January 2021
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Secretary General, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
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...
OSCE PA human rights leaders decry detention of Alexey Navalny
Publishing date: 18 January 2021
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
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:
Roberto Montella begins second five-year term as Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Publishing date: 5 January 2021
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
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.
OSCE PA to deploy observers for the 10 January parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan
Publishing date: 4 January 2021
COPENHAGEN, 4 January 2021 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will deploy seven parliamentarians and staff from five countries to observe the parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan this Sunday. The PA’s observer team will focus its efforts in the capital, Nur-Sultan, and will work closely with long-term observers deployed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Altogether, the OSCE will have some 30 observers in the country.
In final act of Albanian OSCE Chairmanship, Prime Minister Rama signs the PA’s OSCE Call for Action
Publishing date: 31 December 2020
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
COPENHAGEN, 31 December 2020 – As the 2020 OSCE Chairmanship comes to a close, the Chairperson-in-Office for the year, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, signed the Parliamentary Assembly’s “OSCE Call for Action.” In doing so, Rama joined his predecessors as well as other leaders of OSCE institutions, former Secretaries General and OSCE PA Presidents in calling for streamlining and refocusing OSCE activities to confront key challenges in fields where the Organization has deep expertise and a comparative advantage...
On International Migrants Day, OSCE PA migration committee head emphasizes contributions of migrants, urges support to overcome COVID-19 challenges
Publishing date: 18 December 2020
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
COPENHAGEN, 18 December 2020 – Marking International Migrants Day, Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Migration Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden) highlighted the contributions of migrants to society and recalled the difficulties that they face, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted that COVID-19 travel restrictions, border closures and lockdowns have created new challenges for migrants while exacerbating their existing vulnerabilities.