Christine Muttonen (front row, right) poses for a family photo at the informal OSCE meeting of Foreign Ministers in Potsdam on 1 September 2016. POTSDAM, 1 September 2016 – Speaking today at an informal meeting of OSCE Foreign Ministers in Potsdam, Germany, Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) urged intensified efforts at diplomacy and confidence-building, stressing that governments should make full use of the

Kent Harstedt (right) meets with Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, 30 August 2016. COPENHAGEN, 31 August 2016 – OSCE PA Vice-President Kent Harstedt (MP, Sweden), who is serving as Special Co-ordinator to lead the OSCE’s short-term observer mission for the 11 September parliamentary elections in Belarus, continued his pre-electoral work this week by meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko, Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the

Azay Guliyev (left) and Ambassador György Szabo meet with Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, 30 August 2016, Astana ASTANA, 30 August 2016 – Following his address Monday at the international conference “Building a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World” in Astana, Kazakhstan, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President Azay Guliyev (MP, Azerbaijan) met today with the Chairmen of the Senate and Majlis of the

COPENHAGEN, 27 August 2016 – The forced commitment to a psychiatric clinic of Ilmi Umerov represents a worrying new low in Russia’s stigmatization of the Crimean Tatar community and should be immediately reversed, said the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's human rights committee, Ignacio Sanchez Amor (MP, Spain) today. “Already facing charges for simply having the courage to speak his mind, Russian authorities are now using an old and

COPENHAGEN, 21 August 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) issued the following statement in response to an apparent terrorist attack that has killed at least 50 people in Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday night. "I am deeply saddened by this horrific attack, the latest in a dreadful series of terrorist bombings to have struck Turkey. My heart goes out to those affected, and I offer my sincere condolences to

OSCE PA delegation (left) meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, 16 August 2016 ANKARA, 17 August 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria), is leading a high-level delegation to Turkey following the attempted coup of 15 July. In meetings with the President, Speaker of Parliament, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and other officials, the delegation has expressed the solidarity of the