BELGRADE, 10 July 2011 – More than 230 parliamentarians from 53 countries today voted to pass the Belgrade Declaration, a political document filled with recommendations for national parliaments and the Organization for Security and Co-operation Europe on economic, security and human rights issues.

The vote came on the final day of the 20th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

“This Belgrade Declaration should remind us all that the best days of the OSCE are ahead of us,” said President Petros Efthymiou. “Since our beginning our region has constantly changed, and now it is imperative for the OSCE to change as well. We look forward to governments, parliaments and the OSCE implementing these recommendations.” Parliamentarians re-elected President Efthymiou to a second one-year term.

The full Declaration, in all six official OSCE languages, is available here.