DUBROVNIK, Croatia, 7 October 2011 – President Petros Efthymiou and political leaders of Croatia, speaking today at the opening of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Fall Meetings, held up the progress in South East Europe as an example of successful growth that can come from international co-operation. “This region is now showing freedom, security and prosperity are not values that stop at any borders,” said President Efthymiou. “They are the

COPENHAGEN, 5 October 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly human rights committee chair Matteo Mecacci (Italy) today called for calm and for the respect of the rights of minorities after violent protests targeting the Roma population swept across Bulgaria in recent weeks. Demonstrations began after a 19-year-old ethnic Bulgarian was killed in a hit-and-run near the home of a local Roma leader. With Bulgaria’s presidential election set for 23

COPENHAGEN, 28 September 2011 – In a speech at the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw on 26 September, Matteo Mecacci, Chair of the OSCE PA's General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, pointed to OSCE expertise in election processes, rule of law, migration, and human rights as areas that need attention in countries now in transition following the Arab Spring. Calling for the release of all prisoners

COPENHAGEN, 28 September 2011 – More than 200 parliamentary representatives from 50 OSCE countries and Mediterranean Partner States will participate in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Tenth Fall Meetings in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on 7-10 October 2011. Hosted by the Croatian Parliament, the meetings will include a parliamentary conference under the theme of Regional Development in South-East Europe: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects and a

COPENHAGEN, 26 September 2011 In a speech at the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, Matteo Mecacci, Chair of the OSCE PA's human rights committee, pointed to OSCE expertise in election processes, rule of law, migration, and human rights as areas that need attention in countries now in transition after the Arab Spring. “These events remind us that the mandate of our Organization is still relevant for millions of people who live both inside

INTERFAX-UKRAINE 15 September 2011 President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Petros Efthymiou has stated that he is still concerned about the trials of opposition figures in Ukraine. "I have expressed my concern in a statement on August 11 and I stand by this. I also expressed my concern to the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn," he said during a joint briefing with Lytvyn after a bilateral meeting in Kyiv. Efthymiou