Riccardo Migliori waves following his election as President of the Assembly.MONACO, 9 July 2012 – Riccardo Migliori, a member of Italy's Chamber of Deputies, today became the first Italian elected president of the 56-country Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

Migliori, 60, immediately assumes the top elected position of the Assembly for a one-year term.

"I am honored to have the trust of my colleagues and look forward to working with delegations across our region to tangibly strengthen our commitments to human rights, military co-operation, and economic and environmental protection," said Migliori, who previously served as vice-president and two terms as rapporteur of the Committee on Political Affairs and Security.

"The Assembly must remain the vanguard of OSCE, proud of its specificity, as a body which does not sit in the sidelines, but acts decisively in the forefront," said Migliori.

Migliori, who led the 2011 international election observation mission to Tunisia, has participated in 16 such observation missions. He campaigned for the presidency on a theme of "missions, monitoring, and mediation," an approach that includes linking Assembly work with field missions, continuing its "core business" of election monitoring, and helping mediate frozen conflicts through ad hoc committees with clear roles to support ongoing OSCE work.

Migliori was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1996 and has been re-elected three times, serving as a member of PDL (People of Freedom Party) and PPE (European People's Party). From 1975 to 1980, he served on the Florence City Council. From 1983 to 1996 he was a member of Tuscany's Regional Council.

In the current parliament he has worked to improve access to employment for disabled people, promoted community banking in support of small and medium enterprises, and introduced a bill to further co-operation in the Euro-Mediterranean/Black Sea region regarding sustainable development.

In 2011-2012 he was professor of human rights on finance and development at Sapienza University of Rome. He is also the author of Federalismo della destra (The Federalism of the Right).

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 320 parliamentarians from 55 countries spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international cooperation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.