Ignacio Sanchez Amor and Geir Jorgen Bekkevold speak to reporters outside of a polling station in Yerevan, 2 April 2017. YEREVAN, 3 April 2017 – The 2 April parliamentary elections in Armenia were well administered and fundamental freedoms were generally respected. Despite welcomed reforms of the legal framework and the introduction of new technologies to reduce electoral irregularities, the elections were tainted by credible information about

Economic and environmental committee Chair Nilza Sena at the OSCE PA's 2017 Winter Meeting in Vienna COPENHAGEN, 29 March 2017 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s economic and environment committee Chair Nilza Sena (MP, Portugal) today expressed concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order Tuesday to ease restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. She emphasized that this represents a significant step

President Christine Muttonen addresses anti-terrorism conference in St. Petersburg, 28 March 2017. (Photo: Interparliamentary Assembly of CIS Member Nations) ST. PETERSBURG, 28 March 2017 – The Parliamentary Conference on Combating International Terrorism, co-organized by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, concluded today in St. Petersburg confirming the prominent role

Christine Muttonen (left) meets with Vyacheslav Volodin in St. Petersburg, 27 March 2017. ST. PETERSBURG, 27 March 2017 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) today held a series of bilateral meetings in St. Petersburg ahead of the Parliamentary Conference on Combating International Terrorism, co-organized by the OSCE PA and Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which she is

Kent Harstedt and Ignacio Sanchez Amor COPENHAGEN, 27 March 2017 – Belarusian authorities must respect principles of freedom of assembly in their handling of demonstrations, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee Chair Ignacio Sanchez Amor and Kent Harstedt, the Chair of the Assembly’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, said today in response to mass arrests of protesters that took place over the weekend. They further called for

OSCE PA Vice-President and Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus Kent Harstedt COPENHAGEN, 24 March 2017 – Kent Harstedt (MP, Sweden), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus, today expressed concerns regarding an increasingly hazardous atmosphere pertaining to demonstrations that have taken place in recent weeks and other gatherings that are reportedly planned to be held tomorrow. “The Belarusian