COPENHAGEN, 14 October 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou of Greece was appointed today by Lithuanian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chair-in-Office Audronius Azubalis to lead the short term OSCE observer mission to the parliamentary elections in the Russian Federation 4 December. President Efthymiou will also head the delegation of parliamentary observers of the OSCE PA. An experienced election observer, this will be

COPENHAGEN, 12 October 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou issued the following statement today upon hearing the announcement of a seven-year prison sentence for former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko: "The sentencing of Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in prison is a cause for deep concern. With allegations that the case was politically motivated and that her lawyers were unable to mount an adequate defence,

DUBROVNIK, Croatia, 9 October 2011 – Members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly today called for closer co-operation with Mediterranean countries to promote democratic transition and strengthen international engagement in the region. Speaking at a Mediterranean Forum with representatives from Algeria, Israel, Jordon, Morocco, and Tunisia and more than 200 parliamentarians from across the 56-country OSCE region, Assembly President Petros

DUBROVNIK, Croatia, 7 October 2011 – President Petros Efthymiou and political leaders of Croatia, speaking today at the opening of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Fall Meetings, held up the progress in South East Europe as an example of successful growth that can come from international co-operation. “This region is now showing freedom, security and prosperity are not values that stop at any borders,” said President Efthymiou. “They are the

COPENHAGEN, 5 October 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly human rights committee chair Matteo Mecacci (Italy) today called for calm and for the respect of the rights of minorities after violent protests targeting the Roma population swept across Bulgaria in recent weeks. Demonstrations began after a 19-year-old ethnic Bulgarian was killed in a hit-and-run near the home of a local Roma leader. With Bulgaria’s presidential election set for 23

COPENHAGEN, 28 September 2011 – In a speech at the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw on 26 September, Matteo Mecacci, Chair of the OSCE PA's General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, pointed to OSCE expertise in election processes, rule of law, migration, and human rights as areas that need attention in countries now in transition following the Arab Spring. Calling for the release of all prisoners