Chairperson Isabel Santos (left) speaks with NGO workers at a reception center for asylum-seekers in Mineo, Italy, 21 June 2015. COPENHAGEN, 19 August 2015 – Putting up barriers will not solve the deepening crisis concerning migrants and refugees in Europe, but a policy based on solidarity and respect for human lives will, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly humanitarian Chair Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal) said in a statement today. “It is deeply

Chairperson Isabel Santos speaks at the OSCE PA Annual Session in Helsinki, 6 July 2015. COPENHAGEN, 13 August 2015 – The Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), today condemned the sentencing of Azerbaijani rights activist Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif, to lengthy prison terms and called on authorities to urgently begin respecting their OSCE

Juergen Klimke COPENHAGEN, 6 August 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) has appointed German parliamentarian Juergen Klimke to serve as the PA’s first Special Representative for the Baltic Sea Area. The newly established position will help focus and strengthen the Assembly’s work on promoting security and co-operation in the Baltic Sea area, while also enhancing the Assembly’s co-operation with other

COPENHAGEN, 4 August 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Spencer Oliver discussed the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and the current state of the OSCE at an event hosted by the Danish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights on 1 August. “At this milestone, it is important to take stock of the OSCE’s past, present and future. We recall the profound importance of the Final Act and the Helsinki Process, which ensured that

COPENHAGEN, 29 July 2015 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, today raised grave concerns over the treatment of jailed Kazakhstani opposition leader Vladimir Kozlov. Kozlov has been subjected to punitive measures for alleged violations of prison rules. He briefly declared a hunger strike last week to protest his treatment after he was

OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva listens during his meeting with Duma Chairperson Sergey Naryshkin in Moscow, 17 July 2015. (photo courtesy of the Russian State Duma) COPENHAGEN, 17 July 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) met today in Moscow with Russian State Duma Chairperson and Head of the Russian Delegation to the OSCE PA Sergey Naryshkin for talks that focused on the Assembly’s recent Annual Session,