COPENHAGEN, 16 May 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou today criticized the authorities of Belarus following the sentencing of opposition presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov to five years in prison on charges of rioting in connection with demonstrations after the December 19 presidential election. “In no democracy does the winner throw the loser in jail,” President Efthymiou said. “As if the December crackdown on

SKOPJE, 14 May 2011 – Slovenian MP Roberto Battelli, the OSCE`s Special Co-ordinator for the observation of the upcoming 5 June parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, has concluded his pre-election visit to Skopje. Mr. Battelli, who serves also as the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative for South-East Europe, met Saturday with state election commission officials, representatives of the OSCE Office

News.Az 12 May 2011 The president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Petros Efthymiou, is visiting Azerbaijan, after two days of talks in Armenia. President Ilham Aliyev received the Greek MP on Thursday. They discussed cooperation between Azerbaijan and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh the presidential press service reported. Earlier in the day, Efthymiou met Ogtay

PUBLIC RADIO OF ARMENIA 10 May 2011 On May 10 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Petros Efthymiou. Greeting the guest, the Armenian Foreign Minister noted that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is a full-fledged format of inter-parliamentary cooperation and Armenia actively participates in its activity. The interlocutors touched upon a number of issues on OSCE agenda. The parties

Speaker of Moldovan Parliament and Acting President Marian Lupu greets President Efthymiou in Chisinau. CHISINAU, 6 May 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou today called for a resumption of official negotiations between Chisinau and Tiraspol following high-level meetings in Moldova. The visit is the first of a series of visits that President Efthymiou will conduct in the coming weeks to areas of protracted conflict

Ricardo Migliori (Italy), Tonino Picula (Croatia) and Roberto Battelli (Slovenia) visit Croatia's Istrian Peninsula, 6 May 2011. COPENHAGEN, 6 May 2011 – Leaders of the Italian and Croatian delegations to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly today concluded a two-day meeting with local officials on Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula aimed at strengthening cooperation on issues related to national minorities. OSCE PA Vice-President Riccardo Migliori (Italy)