COPENHAGEN, 1 May 2013 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on South Caucasus Joao Soares will visit Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia next week to discuss developments in the region regarding democratic reforms and unresolved conflicts. Soares will start his tour in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 5-7 May where he will discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the upcoming presidential election. He will then travel to Tbilisi, Georgia,

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

SOFIA, Bulgaria, 29 April 2013 – Experts from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly are in Bulgaria this week to finalize preparations for the observation of the 12 May parliamentary elections. Eoghan Murphy (MP, Ireland) has been appointed by the Ukrainian OSCE Chair-in-Office to lead the short-term observation mission, which will include at least 25 observers from parliaments in 16 countries. OSCE PA Director of Presidential Administration Roberto

KYIV, 24 April 2013 – OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck (MP Austria) concluded his two-day visit to Kyiv last night after holding meetings with the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. The visit followed an invitation by the OSCE's Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, who Grossruck met with several times during his stay in Kyiv. All meetings took place in a very cordial,

COPENHAGEN, 23 April 2013 – Eoghan Murphy, Head of the Irish Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly, has been appointed by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Leonid Kozhara, to lead the OSCE short-term observer mission to the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria on 12 May. The appointment by the Chairperson-in-Office followed OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck’s recommendation that Murphy lead the mission in accordance with the 1997

COPENHAGEN, 23 April 2013 – Violence has no place in a democracy, said OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck, following reports that a leading opposition figure in Tajikistan was beaten outside his home in Dushanbe. “The OSCE PA is deeply concerned about the attack on Mahamadali Hait and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice,” Grossruck said today. “This act of violence is deeply troubling. Investigations should be conducted by