KYIV POST 14 September 2011 Representatives of the Ukrainian opposition have met with President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Petros Efthymiou to discuss the situation in Ukraine. "Today we discussed the ways of overcoming the political crisis in Ukraine. The suggestions voiced by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly president coincide with our ideas: There is one real way out of the political crisis - it is the decriminalization of political

BISHKEK, 14 September 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President Walburga Habsburg Douglas (Sweden) today completed a four-day election assessment visit to the Kyrgyz Republic. The visit, aimed at assessing the environment ahead of the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan scheduled for 30 October 2011, included high-level meetings in Bishkek and Osh. With the incumbent not standing for election, the conduct of the October vote is seen as

Dutch delegation with Walburga Habsburg Douglas in Bishkek, 12 Sept. 2011. (Photo by Arjen Westerhoff, Dutch Parliament) BISHKEK, 12 September 2011 – OSCE PA Vice-President Walburga Habsburg Douglas (Sweden) and human rights committee rapporteur Coskun Coruz (The Netherlands) led discussions about election observation work Saturday during an OSCE-organized parliamentary forum on the role of parliaments in ensuring election transparency. The

COPENHAGEN, 5 September 2011 - OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President Walburga Habsburg Douglas of Sweden has been appointed to lead the short term OSCE observer mission to the presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan 30 October. Lithuanian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chair-in-Office Audronius Azubalis made the appointment on the recommendation of OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou, who previously named Habsburg Douglas head of the OSCE PA

COPENHAGEN, 31 August 2011 -- As relief groups pour aid into east Africa amid one of the worst droughts and famines in decades and parliaments throughout the world prepare for their fall sessions to address global economic challenges, a new video calls for legislative action to address rural jobs and food security issues. The video is the first collaborative effort of the Organization for Security and Co-operation Parliamentary Assembly and the

COPENHAGEN, 1 September 2011 - Matteo Mecacci (Italy), chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions today called on Belarusian authorities to immediately cease the harassment of human rights activists, including Ales Bialiatski. Bialiatski, president of the Human Rights Centre Viasna, an unregistered NGO working to promote human rights and democracy in Belarus, has been detained by the