Civil Georgia 23 May 2013 The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative on South Caucasus Joao Soares said in a statement on Thursday in connection to legal proceedings against PM Vano Merabishvili and ex-healthcare minister Zurab Tchiaberashvili, that he spoke via phone with Georgian Parliamentary Chairman Davit Usupashvili on May 22 and told him that "putting your political opponents behind bars will not help solve any problems, on

COPENHAGEN, 23 May 2013 – The OSCE PA Special Representative on South Caucasus Joao Soares issued the following statement today regarding the arrests of former government officials in Georgia. "I have followed the arrests and detention this week of the former Prime Minister of Georgia, current Secretary General of the United National Movement, Vano Merabishvili, who is running in the internal primary to become a candidate for United National

Roberto Battelli speaks at the 2013 High-Level Conference on Tolerance and Non-discrimination in Albania. TIRANA, Albania, 21 May 2013 – Governments and parliaments should increase efforts to counter hate speech or racist content on-air and online, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on South East Europe Roberto Battelli said today at the opening of the OSCE High-Level Conference on Tolerance and Non-discrimination in Tirana.

OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck and Speaker of the Senate Kairat Mami in Astana, 21 May 2013. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, 21 May 2013 – OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck is in Kazakhstan this week for a round of high-level meetings before participating in the Astana Economic Summit Thursday. Meeting Monday with Speaker of the Senate Kairat Mami and Speaker of the Mazhilis Nurlan Nigmatulin, Grossruck encouraged the full participation of the

AFP 13 May 2013 Monitoring body the OSCE Monday gave Bulgaria's elections an overall clean bill of health but said that incidents during the campaign had undermined trust in democratic institutions in the ex-communist country. The vote on Sunday was "held in a competitive environment, fundamental freedoms were respected, and the administration was well managed," the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said. It added,

Associated Press 13 May 2013 SOFIA, Bulgaria – The center-right party of former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov has fallen far short of winning a majority needed to form a government, according to nearly final election results released on Monday, and appears to have no willing partners to join a coalition. That would leave the second-place party in position to lead a new government. Borisov's Citizens for Bulgaria's European Development party