COPENHAGEN, 16 March 2012 – OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou today applauded the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova for electing a national president after a more than two and a half year political stalemate in Chisinau. The parliament today elected Mr. Nicolae Timofti president of Moldova. Timofti, an experienced lawyer, was proposed by the Alliance for European Integration, supported by independent parliamentarians, and received 62

COPENHAGEN, 16 March 2012 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou called today for authorities in Minsk to halt its use of the death penalty after reports that President Alexander Lukashenko has decided to go forward with the use of the death penalty in the cases of two men convicted for the April 2011 Minsk metro bombing. "I am troubled by President Lukashenko's decision go forward with the use of the death penalty in the

Gazeta.kz 14 March 2012 Kazakh delegation headed by Chairman of the Senate Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security Ikram Adyrbekov met with OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Emeritus Joao Soares and Portuguese MPs in Lisbon on Monday. The issues of intensification of Kazakh-Portuguese interparliamentary cooperation and economic ties were discussed. The Portuguese parliamentarians were proposed to form a parliamentary friendship

CNN 5 March 2012 Moscow (CNN) -- Thousands of people in Moscow rallied for and against Vladimir Putin in separate rallies Monday after official election results showed the Russian prime minister handily winning back the presidency. International observers blasted the Sunday election, saying the outcome was never in doubt. Some foreign governments pledged to work with the new leader despite concerns about electoral violations. "The election has

Kyiv-Post 5 March 2012 Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Walburga Habsburg Douglas has said she regrets that she was denied permission to visit former Ukrainian Prime Minster Yulia Tymoshenko in the Kachanivska penal colony in Kharkiv. "A functioning legal system and the guarantee of legal security are among the most important democratic principles a country needs to uphold. It is unfortunate that we were prevented from meeting

New York Times 5 March 2012 MOSCOW — European election observers issued a harsh critique of the Russian presidential election on Monday, saying that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin's victory was preordained and unfair, because of overwhelming bias in the television media and the use of government money and resources in support of his campaign. Mr. Putin, who has already served eight years as president and four years as prime minister, won a