COPENHAGEN, 2 April 2016 - Following reports of increased fighting along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) and the OSCE PA Special Representative on the South Caucasus, Kristian Vigenin (MP, Bulgaria), today called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. They issued the following joint statement: "This fighting must stop. The Nagorno Karabakh conflict

COPENHAGEN, 1 April 2016 – On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) congratulated the thousands of parliamentarians involved in the OSCE PA for their immense contributions to the OSCE process and people since 1991. On 2 and 3 April 1991 leading parliamentarians from the then-CSCE met in Madrid on the initiative of the Spanish Parliament to establish a

COPENHAGEN, 29 March 2016 – The Chairperson of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), and the OSCE PA Special Representative on the South Caucasus, Kristian Vigenin (MP, Bulgaria), today welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan to release on probation Intigam Aliyev, a prominent human rights lawyer. “Intigam Aliyev’s release is an important

COPENHAGEN, 22 March 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) issued the following statement on today's terrorist attacks in Brussels: "On behalf of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I condemn in the strongest terms today’s savage terrorist attacks at Zaventem airport and the Maelbeek metro station near European Union institutions in Brussels, which claimed many lives and injured many others. These barbaric acts

ASTANA, 21 March 2016 – The 20 March early parliamentary elections were efficiently organized, with some progress noted, but they indicated that Kazakhstan still has a considerable way to go in meeting its OSCE commitments for democratic elections, the international observers concluded in a preliminary statement released today. The legal framework restricts fundamental civil and political rights, and comprehensive reform is required. In a

COPENHAGEN, 20 March 2016 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) today issued the following statement on the 19 March terrorist attack in Istanbul: "The blight of terrorism has again reared its ugly face in Turkey, claiming lives and injuring innocent civilians, both nationals and foreigners. On behalf of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I deplore this unjustifiable act and reaffirm our solidarity with Turkey in the