COPENHAGEN, 29 April 2013 – President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Wolfgang Grossruck issued the following statement today following the attack against two police officers in front of Palazzo Chigi on Sunday:

"I would like to express my strongest dismay at the assault against two Carabinieri outside the Italian government headquarters yesterday. I wish these two people a speedy recovery and I want to extend my solidarity to their families.

"Yesterday was an important day for Italy, as a new government was sworn in. It was extremely worrying and sad to learn that, just outside the building where the oath ceremony was about to take place, the Italian people had to learn about this despicable episode. Such acts of political violence are simply appalling, constituting a serious threat to democratic institutions and can by no means be tolerated in the OSCE area."