COPENHAGEN, 27 May 2011 – The chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee today strongly criticised the sentencing of two more candidates in Belarus’ December 2011 election. Yesterday’s conviction of Nikolai Statkevich and Dmitry Uss follows the 14 May imprisonment of Andrei Sannikov. “Yesterday’s sentencing adds further insult to injury and demonstrates a serious lack of regard for political dialogue. Three out of nine

Pia Christmas-Moeller speaks at a pre-election briefing in Ankara. COPENHAGEN, 25 May 2011 – Pia Christmas-Moeller (Denmark) has been appointed the head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly election observation mission in Turkey – the first time the Assembly has sent a delegation to observe elections in the country. The country is holding parliamentary elections 12 June. “Turkey’s dynamic progress has made it a major economic and political player

COPENHAGEN, 16 May 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou today criticized the authorities of Belarus following the sentencing of opposition presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov to five years in prison on charges of rioting in connection with demonstrations after the December 19 presidential election. “In no democracy does the winner throw the loser in jail,” President Efthymiou said. “As if the December crackdown on

SKOPJE, 14 May 2011 – Slovenian MP Roberto Battelli, the OSCE`s Special Co-ordinator for the observation of the upcoming 5 June parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, has concluded his pre-election visit to Skopje. Mr. Battelli, who serves also as the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative for South-East Europe, met Saturday with state election commission officials, representatives of the OSCE Office

News.Az 12 May 2011 The president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Petros Efthymiou, is visiting Azerbaijan, after two days of talks in Armenia. President Ilham Aliyev received the Greek MP on Thursday. They discussed cooperation between Azerbaijan and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh the presidential press service reported. Earlier in the day, Efthymiou met Ogtay

PUBLIC RADIO OF ARMENIA 10 May 2011 On May 10 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Petros Efthymiou. Greeting the guest, the Armenian Foreign Minister noted that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is a full-fledged format of inter-parliamentary cooperation and Armenia actively participates in its activity. The interlocutors touched upon a number of issues on OSCE agenda. The parties