OSCE Special Co-ordinator Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (MP, Lithuania) speaks to the media at a polling station alongside OSCE PA Delegation Head Ignacio Sanchez Amor (MP, Spain), Ankara, 7 June 2015. ANKARA, 8 June 2015 – The 7 June parliamentary elections in Turkey were characterized by active and high citizen participation, during the campaign and on election day. Voters could choose from a wide range of political parties, but the 10 per

Top: OSCE PA Special Representative Battelli (left) meets with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski (center) and Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki (right) in Skopje, 5 June. Bottom: Battelli (left) meets with SDSM leader Zoran Zaev in Skopje, 4 June. SKOPJE, 6 June 2015 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative on South East Europe, Roberto Battelli (MP, Slovenia), visited the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on 4-5 June,

Isabel Santos COPENHAGEN, 4 June 2015 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, today condemned the 3 June attack on the office of the Committee against Torture (KPP) in Grozny, the capital of Russia's Chechen Republic. "Civil society organizations, and particularly human rights NGOs, remain under siege in Russia – not only through legal

Top: OSCE Special Co-ordinator Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (center) meets with representatives of several NGOs in Adana, 3 June. Bottom: OSCE PA Delegation Head Ignacio Sanchez Amor (left) meets with Diyarbakir's governor, Huseyin Aksoy, 4 June. ANKARA, 4 June 2015 – The leaders of the OSCE's short-term observer mission for Turkey's upcoming parliamentary vote have completed visits to Adana and Diyarbakir provinces, respectively, while dozens

Top: Special Representative Battelli (left) met with Vladimir Marinkovic, Vice-President of the National Assembly of Serbia, in Belgrade on 1 June. Bottom: Battelli met with Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga in Prishtine/Pristina on 3 June (courtesy photo). PRISHTINE/PRISTINA, 3 June 2015 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative on South East Europe, Roberto Battelli (MP, Slovenia), is visiting Belgrade, Prishtine/Pristina and

Participants in the Belgrade seminar included: T op (left to right): OSCE PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver, President Ilkka Kanerva, Serbian Delegation Head Dijana Vukomanovic, BFPE President Sonja Licht Bottom (left to right): Serbian Ambassador Dejan Sahovic, OSCE PA human rights committee Rapporteur Gordana Comic COPENHAGEN, 28 May 2015 – The OSCE needs a strengthened presence on the ground, closer co-operation with civil society and a