COPENHAGEN, 1 October 2014 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's 2014 Autumn Meeting, bringing together more than 450 participants from more than 50 countries, opens Friday, 3 October in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Meeting – the final major gathering of the Assembly this year – will feature an opening-day parliamentary debate on the crisis in Ukraine and international efforts to de-escalate the situation. The debate will be held during Session One, beginning at 13:00 GMT on 3 October.

Held under the theme "New Security Challenges: The Role of Parliaments," the Meeting is also expected to include debate involving dozens of parliamentarians from across the OSCE area on other topics within the OSCE's political-military, economic-environmental and human dimensions. Those topics include the threat of extremism, the global arms trade and the protection of minority and migrants' rights.

Addresses by OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland); OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter; President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer; OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Astrid Thors; and others will also feature in the three-day event.

The Autumn Meeting will also feature a Mediterranean Forum, held under the theme "Facing Current Challenges to Security in the Mediterranean Region: the OSCE Model." The Forum will feature addresses by the Heads of the Parliamentary Delegations from the OSCE Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation.

The first meeting of the OSCE PA's Interparliamentary Liaison Group on Ukraine will not take place on 3 October, as initially scheduled. It has been postponed until a future time and place.

For the full programme of the Autumn Meeting, visit: http://www.oscepa.org/meetings/autumn-meetings/2014-geneva

The Meeting will be STREAMED LIVE on www.oscepa.org, beginning on 3 October at 7:00 GMT.

Journalists interested in attending the Meeting should contact OSCE PA Communications Director Richard Solash at [email protected].