OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva addresses the IPU conference on 1 September 2015. © IPU, 2015 COPENHAGEN, 2 September 2015 – Better co-operation among parliaments and interparliamentary bodies is crucial to meeting sustainable development goals and managing crises, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) said in an address at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 1 September. President Kanerva spoke before leaders

OSCE PA human rights Chairperson Isabel Santos COPENHAGEN, 1 September 2015 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Chair, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), today called for the immediate release of Azerbaijani investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who was sentenced earlier on 1 September to 7 ½ years in prison. “Ms. Ismayilova has earned several awards for her reporting. The reward she got today from her

OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva COPENHAGEN, 31 August 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) today condemned the violence that occurred during protests outside of Ukraine’s parliament earlier on 31 August, which resulted in the death of at least one member of the National Guard and scores injured. “There is no justification for the violence that occurred in Kyiv today. The last thing that Ukraine needs is more

OSCE PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver (center) hosted NATO PA counterpart David Hobbs (left) and PACE counterpart Wojciech Sawicki on 26 August 2015. COPENHAGEN, 27 August 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Spencer Oliver hosted his counterpart from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA), David Hobbs, and his counterpart from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE),

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