President Christine Muttonen and Special Representative Nikolay KovalevVIENNA, 23 May 2017 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) and the OSCE PA’s Special Representative on Anti-Terrorism, Nikolay Kovalev (MP, Russian Federation), expressed shock and outrage over an apparent terrorist attack targeting young concertgoers in Manchester, England, on Monday. The attack killed at least 22 – including children – and injured 59.

Offering condolences to the families of the victims, Muttonen and Kovalev condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms and wished the injured a full recovery.

“This was a despicable, barbaric and senseless act of violence, which appeared to target primarily teenage girls and children. My deepest condolences go out to the victims’ families and to the people of the United Kingdom,” said Muttonen.

Special Representative Kovalev, who is in Vienna today to participate in an OSCE Counter-Terrorism Conference, stressed the need to counter violent extremism by harmonizing national legislation of OSCE countries in the fight against terrorism.

“We must all work together in developing innovative, effective and co-operative counter-terrorism measures. With last night’s tragedy in mind, I hope that we can have a constructive discussion on countering the phenomenon of extremist violence, which is one of the greatest common threats that we face today,” said Kovalev.