News and press releases

COPENHAGEN/VIENNA/SARAJEVO, 25 March 20210- The current situation of 8,000 asylum seekers and migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was the focus of a series of virtual meetings, concluded on 25 March 2021, ahead of the field visit of Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Margareta Cederfelt, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President/Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Migration...

COPENHAGEN, 24 March 2021 – Addressing a meeting of the OSCE’s Forum for Security Co-operation today, Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Political Affairs and Security Richard Hudson (United States) highlighted the strong relationship between the two OSCE bodies and underlined their many areas of convergence, stressing that to meet pressing challenges, intra-organizational co-operation is essential.

STOCKHOLM/VIENNA/WARSAW, 8 March 2021 – The role of women as leaders, particularly in peace building and conflict prevention, is essential to achieve prosperous and peaceful societies, and to guarantee the strength of our democracies, say OSCE officials on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

COPENHAGEN, 26 February 2021 – Meeting virtually today, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s committees on economic and environmental affairs and human rights and democracy discussed the impacts of COVID-19, as well as other pertinent issues. It was the first time that the two committees have met – albeit in an online format – since the coronavirus outbreak last year. The meetings featured speeches by committee leaders, presentations by high-level OSCE officials, and wide-ranging debates with the participation of dozens of parliamentarians from North America, Europe and Central Asia.

COPENHAGEN, 19 February 2021 – Taking stock of migratory developments in the OSCE region over the last several months, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Migration met today and discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the precarious conditions in which refugees and asylum seekers find themselves. The meeting also focused on developing synergies between the OSCE’s executive structures and OSCE parliamentarians in the area of combating trafficking in human beings along migration routes.

COPENHAGEN, 1 February 2021 – Recent reports of conditions for detained protesters in Belarus, including widespread allegations of abuse and torture, must be addressed by the international community, said leaders of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee today. They highlighted several ongoing cases of political prisoners, including that of Igor Losik, who recently ended a 42-day hunger strike, and called on the Belarusian authorities to accept visits from international organizations to learn more about the situation in prisons.

COPENHAGEN, 27 January 2021 – With more than 130 participants, including former OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Presidents, OSCE Chairs, Secretaries General, current and former leaders of OSCE institutions, as well as members of OSCE PA Delegations, an online roundtable was held today under the theme, “Toward Helsinki +50: Reaffirming a Common Purpose.” Featuring keynote addresses from Christian Strohal, who served as Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights from 2003 to 2008, and Douglas Wake, Senior Expert at the OSCE Office of the Secretary General, the event followed up on the “OSCE Call for Action: Reaffirming a Common Purpose” with a view towards the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act in 2025...