At OSCE Security Days, PA First Committee Rapporteur highlights parliamentary diplomacy
Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (second from right) addresses the OSCE Security Days event on 17 June 2013. (Marc Carillet/OSCE PA)VIENNA, 17 June 2013 – Speaking at the OSCE Security Days event in Vienna today, Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (MP, Lithuania), Rapporteur of the OSCE PA's Committee on Political Affairs and Security, highlighted the role of parliamentary diplomacy in contributing to the process of building a security community.
"Through our work in the OSCE PA, parliamentary diplomacy contributes fresh ideas, new insights, and provides a crucial link to the electorate and civil society," she said.
Economic, environmental resolution tackles austerity, greenhouse gases
COPENHAGEN, 18 June 2013 (FRE | RUS | TR)—In the largest gathering of international parliamentarians before this year's COP19 climate conference, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will consider a resolution calling for binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions and new fees to make short-term stock speculation more expensive.
The resolution as drafted looks to reverse Europe's austerity measures, saying that spending cuts have "not had the anticipated positive impact on the overall economic recovery."
Azerbaijani MP proposes vote on greater role for civil society
COPENHAGEN, 17 June 2013 (RUS | FRE | TR) – A parliamentarian from Azerbaijan has called for OSCE countries to show more openness and greater engagement with civil society in a resolution now pending before the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
"Civil society always brings added value to the debate," said Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan), author of the resolution. "Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should not only be observers but active voices included in the decision-making process."
Parliamentarians to vote on approach to crisis in Syria
Head of Turkey's OSCE PA Delegation Emin Onen (left) with then-President Riccardo Migliori on a visit to the Turkish-Syrian border in November 2012. (OSCE PA)COPENHAGEN, 17 June 2013 (FRE | RUS | TR)– When more than 250 parliamentarians from across the Northern Hemisphere gather in Istanbul for the Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly this month, many will be looking to send a collective message to the United Nations about the need for an international response to the crisis in Syria.
Fifty-eight parliamentarians from 17 countries have co-sponsored the resolution on Syria introduced by Emin Önen (Turkey). The measure urges the international community, the UN Security Council in particular, to take "decisive and urgent action" to safeguard international and regional peace, security and stability. (Read the full text of the resolution here.)
Parliamentarians to meet in Istanbul on security, human rights
COPENHAGEN, 12 June 2013 (RUS|FRE|TR) – More than 260 parliamentarians from across 57 countries are preparing to visit Istanbul and debate security and human rights policies at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly's 22nd Annual Session.
The meeting hosted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey runs 29 June – 3 July at Istanbul's Lutfi Kirdar International Convention and Exhibition Center, six blocks from Taksim Square. The session follows a growing interest in Turkey at the OSCE PA, which first observed the country's parliamentary elections in 2011, visited Syrian refugees camps in 2012, and has closely monitored the recent demonstrations.