COPENHAGEN, 11 March 2011 – President Petros Efthymiou of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly today released the following statement regarding the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, an OSCE Asian Partner for Co-operation: “The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly extends its deep sympathies to those who have suffered losses in today’s earthquake and tsunami off the east coast of Japan. We know that Japan has significant experience with seismic activity but

THE CABLE 11 March 2011 The State Department is funding a project for a think tank to host diplomatic talks in Vienna, angering top lawmakers at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who believe the project undercuts their role. The State Department funded project, which will cost U.S. taxpayers 60,000 euros, or about $83,400, will give representatives of OSCE countries a forum to meet outside of the OSCE's formal

President Efthymiou and Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic following the signing BELGRADE, 10 March 2011 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Eftyhmiou and Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic today signed the official agreement to hold the 20 th Annual Session of the OSCE PA in Belgrade 6-10 July. The 2011 Annual Session will convene under the theme

TOTUL.MD 9 March 2011 The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe presumes that a meeting of Moldovan and Transnistrian parliamentarians in a neutral territory, namely in the Swedish capital of Stockholm may become a step towards resumption of the conflict settlement negotiations between Chisinau and Tiraspol, Deputy Head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Walburga Habsburg Douglas stated during her

MOLDPRES 7 March 11 Chisinau - Parliament Speaker, acting President Marian Lupu on 7 March met a delegation of the group for Moldova of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), led by the chairwoman of this group, Walburga Habsburg Douglas, the parliament's mass media relations department has said. President Marian Lupu thanked the OSCE PA representatives for constant interest showed in Moldova and the support given to settle the

VIENNA, 25 February 2011—In her first address to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly as the Special Representative on Gender Issues, Dr. Hedy Fry (Canada) called for the election of more women to the Assembly’s leadership. Dr. Fry, appointed in October by President Petros Efthymiou, laid out a plan for parliamentarians to consider the gender-based impact of proposed legislation and to increase co-operation between the OSCE and the Parliamentary