COPENHAGEN, 13 March 2015 – The Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Political Affairs and Security, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, today expressed concern regarding the Russian Federation's complete suspension of work under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). "I am deeply disappointed in Russia's decision to turn its back on its international obligations under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in

COPENHAGEN, 13 March 2015 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative on South East Europe, Roberto Battelli (MP, Slovenia), today expressed concern about increasingly turbulent political developments in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. He noted that the ongoing developments in Skopje are, above all, the latest manifestation of a protracted absence of constructive dialogue across the political spectrum. The Special

Participants gathered at the Swedish Parliament for the OSCE PA's third Helsinki +40 seminar on 11 March. (photo courtesy of Melker Dahlstrand/The Riksdag Administration) The third event in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Helsinki +40 seminar series took place on 11 March in Stockholm, with experts, policy-makers, ambassadors and OSCE parliamentarians considering how the European security architecture, and the OSCE's inclusive security

Benjamin Cardin COPENHAGEN, 9 March 2015 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) has appointed U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin to serve as the PA's first Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism and Intolerance. The newly established position will help focus and strengthen the Assembly's work on countering these challenges across the OSCE area. "Senator Cardin has long been one of the leading voices in both the

COPENHAGEN, 5 March 2015 – The Swedish Parliament and one of the country’s leading think-tanks, The Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), will host the next leg of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Helsinki +40 Project in Stockholm on 11 March. Experts, policy-makers, ambassadors and OSCE parliamentarians will gather to consider how the European security architecture can become more effective in responding to crises; the OSCE’s

OSCE Special Co-ordinator Marietta Tidei (MP, Italy; right) and OSCE PA Delegation Head Geir Joergen Bekkevold (MP, Norway) observe at a polling station in Dushanbe, 1 March. DUSHANBE, 2 March 2015 – Some contestants provided political alternatives, yet the March 1 parliamentary elections in Tajikistan took place in a restricted political space and failed to provide a level playing field for candidates, the international observers concluded in