COPENHAGEN, 28 May 2014 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, today deplored the sentencing of rights defender Anar Mammadli by a Baku court to 5 ½ years in prison. "The Azerbaijani government's systematic targeting of civil society has reached a new low with the sentencing of Anar Mammadli. I fear that Mr. Mammadli's only crime may have

OSCE parliamentarians spread out across Ukraine on election day amid intense press interest in their work. COPENHAGEN, 27 May 2014 – Former OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Joao Soares (MP, Portugal) and PA Vice-President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) led OSCE observers for the 25 May presidential election in Ukraine. Soares, appointed by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter as Special Co-ordinator of the observation mission, led

Joao Soares (MP, Portugal), the Special Co-ordinator of the OSCE short-term observer mission, is interviewed in a polling station in Kyiv, 25 May. KYIV, 26 May 2014 – The 25 May early presidential election in Ukraine was characterized by high turnout and a clear resolve by the authorities to hold what was a genuine election largely in line with international commitments and that respected fundamental freedoms, despite the hostile security

KYIV, 23 May 2014 – Joao Soares (MP, Portugal), the Special Co-ordinator of the OSCE's short-term observation mission for Ukraine's presidential election, has arrived in Kyiv alongside fellow parliamentarians ahead of the 25 May vote. Soares, a former President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, was designated by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter in March to lead the more than 1,000 observers from the OSCE PA and the OSCE/ODIHR for

COPENHAGEN, 21 May 2014 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative on South East Europe Roberto Battelli (MP, Slovenia) today issued the following statement regarding recent flooding in the Balkans: "On behalf of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to the victims of the recent floods in the Balkans. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased, as well as the hundreds of thousands of

COPENHAGEN, 21 May 2014 – The Finnish Institute of International Affairs has joined the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Helsinki +40 Project, an initiative that will bring together security and human rights experts, politicians and academia to evaluate the OSCE's past and chart concrete lines of action for the future. The Project marks the 40th anniversary of the OSCE's founding document, the Helsinki Final Act. Consisting of seminars at the