COPENHAGEN, 1 May 2012 – The OSCE PA observation mission to Armenia this week will include more than 70 participants. The delegation to observe the country's 6 May parliamentary elections will be led by Francois-Xavier de Donnea (Belgium). OSCE Chair-in-Office and Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore appointed Mr. de Donnea Special Co-ordinator to head the short-term OSCE observer mission, which is to include more than 200 observers. De

COPENHAGEN, 23 April 2012 – Citizens and leaders should denounce the rise in extremist political parties in the wake of recent physical attacks in Athens, leaders of the 56-country Organization for Security and Co-operation Parliamentary Assembly said today. Meeting in Copenhagen, the members released the following statement after neo-Nazis attacked OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou Saturday while he was campaigning: "Physical attacks,

COPENHAGEN, 17 April 2012 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou today welcomed the release of prominent opposition leader and former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov and his associate Dmitry Bondarenko. "We are pleased that Andrei Sannikov has been amnestied, which comes as a great relief to his family, friends and colleagues. However, we remain concerned that the trials and convictions against him and dozens of other

B92 12 April 2012 BELGRADE -- OSCE official Matteo Mecacci says the ongoing dialogue between the international community and Belgrade about the elections in Kosovo would yield an agreement. He added that the organization could assist Serbs in claiming their right to vote in the May 6 presidential and parliamentary elections in Kosovo. "The OSCE is not going to address the issue of recognition or non-recognition of Kosovo. The role we can play

COPENHAGEN, 3 April 2012 – The OSCE Chair-in-Office, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, has appointed François-Xavier De Donnea of Belgium and Matteo Mecacci of Italy to serve as special co-ordinators to lead the OSCE election observation missions to the 6 May elections in Armenia and Serbia, respectively. In accordance with the 1997 Co-operation Agreement, De Donnea and Mecacci will deliver the post-election statements on behalf of the

COPENHAGEN, 26 March 2012 – With a two-day summit on nuclear security beginning in Seoul, South Korea, today, Karl-Georg Wellmann, chair of the OSCE PA's General Committee on Political Affairs and Security, said that he hopes for strong pledges from the participants on improving the protection of nuclear facilities and radioactive materials, as well as for reducing nuclear stockpiles and deployed strategic nuclear weapons. "I welcome the