KHARKIV, Ukraine, 30 October 2012 ( Русский ) – Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Walburga Habsburg Douglas (MP, Sweden) and OSCE PA human rights committee chair Matteo Mecacci (MP, Italy) today were denied access to a previously approved meeting with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko at a hospital in Kharkiv. Habsburg Douglas had intended to hand-deliver a copy of the preliminary statement from the international

ROME, 30 October 2012 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Riccardo Migliori addressed today the 2012 Mediterranean Conference in Rome, sharing his vision of how the partnership between the OSCE and the Mediterranean Partner States can be more effective. He reminded participants that after the Arab Spring and amid the ongoing economic and a humanitarian crisis, those who believe in the OSCE model must work for it. Pointing out that state

Харьков, Украина, 30 октября 2012 ( English ) – Сегодня в 13:00 должна была состояться встреча с Тимошенко, организованная при содействии украинских властей, однако перед самым прибытием в госпиталь делегации сообщили о невозможности проведения встречи в связи с голодовкой, объявленной Тимошенко. Встреча была организована при содействии украинских властей по просьбе Тимошенко, отбывающей семилетний тюремный срок. В понедельник Тимошенко

AP 30 October 2012 KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian president's party will retain its strong grip on power, according to returns Monday from a parliamentary election that was criticized by Western observers as unfair and biased against the opposition. The West was paying close attention to Sunday's vote in the strategic ex-Soviet state of 46 million people, which lies between Russia and the European Union and serves as a key transit nation

New York Times 29 October 2012 KIEV, Ukraine – International observers delivered scathing criticism on Monday of Ukraine's parliamentary election, saying the vote was heavily tilted in favor of President Viktor F. Yanukovich's Party of Regions through the abuse of government resources, the dominance of media coverage and the jailing of two prominent opposition leaders. "Considering the abuse of power, and the excessive role of money in this

RFE/RL 29 October 2012 International election monitors have given a strongly negative assessment of Ukraine's parliamentary vote while ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has gone on hunger strike to protest the manner in which the poll was conducted. Speaking on October 29 at a press conference in Kyiv, Walburga Habsburg Douglas, the head of the short-term monitoring mission for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),