OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Sep 20, 2026

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly text outlines the Assembly’s parliamentary role within the OSCE framework and its purpose in strengthening inter-parliamentary dialogue across the OSCE region. It describes the Assembly’s annual declarations and recommendations to governments and OSCE institutions, and explains how members convene to exchange views, debate best practices, and consult international experts. It also summarizes leadership, international secretariat functions, research support, election observation involvement, and the themes and outcomes of annual session, fall and winter meetings.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Inter-parliamentary dialogue

15th Annual Session in Brussels

Fall Meetings in Malta

Winter Meeting in Vienna

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly represents the OSCE’s parliamentary dimension. Comprising 320 parliamentarians, the Assembly’s primary task is to support inter-parliamentary dialogue, an important aspect of the overall effort of meeting the challenges of democracy throughout the OSCE region. The declarations passed by the Assembly each year, which are forwarded to governments and OSCE institutions, represent the collective voice of the parliaments of the participating States. Originally established by the 1990 Paris Summit to promote greater national parliamentary involvement in the OSCE’s forerunner, the CSCE, the Assembly has become an active and prominent member of the OSCE family. The Assembly brings together domestic members of parliaments from the participating States several times each year to discuss OSCE-related affairs and to issue recommendations. Parliamentarians are provided with the opportunity to exchange views, debate best practices and to engage with international experts on OSCE issues. Each of the national parliaments today have members with OSCE expertise who are in a position to support and inﬂuence the Organization’s policies. Through an active election observation programme, the parliamentarians also use their unique expertise as directly elected ofﬁcials, and playa leading role in OSCE observation activities. Each year the Assembly elects a President by majority vote to act as its high representative and to chair its primary meetings. The President regularly participates in the work of the OSCE at the ministerial level, including Troika meetings and the Ministerial Council. In July, the Assembly elected Goran Lennmarker, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Swedish Parliament, as its new President. The Assembly’s International Secretariat is located in Copenhagen, hosted by the Danish Parliament. The Secretariat is headed by Secretary General R. Spencer Oliver. With a permanent staff of 15 people, the Assembly also maintains a small liaison ofﬁce in Vienna. In addition to the Permanent Staff, the Parliamentary Assembly employs up to seven Research Fellows in both Copenhagen and Vienna. The Research Fellows provide high-quality research and linguistic assistance for the work of the Assembly. Inter-parliamentary dialogue 15th Annual Session in Brussels, July. The theme of this year’s Annual Session was Strengthening Human Security in the OSCE region. Parliamentarians from 53 countries gathered in OSCE parliamentarians vote during the Assembly’s Annual Session in July. OSCE/Andreas Baker Brussels at the Assembly’s largest annual meeting to discuss current issues in the ﬁelds of international security, economics, the environment and human rights, and subsequently passed the Brussels Declaration with both political and technical recommendations. The Declaration calls for increased support for ﬁeld operations, with a particular focus on South-eastern Europe, and closer co-operation with other international organizations. The parliamentarians are looking for increased dialogue among States to ensure reliable and secure supplies of energy. The Assembly also stressed the importance of effective parliamentary oversight of security services. The Assembly urged parliamentarians to continue providing political leadership to election observation missions, since this lends these missions visibility and credibility. Members also requested participating States to ensure that their territory is not used to assist rendition ﬂights or to operate secret detention centres. They issued recommendations on settling the Transnistrian conﬂict in Moldova, dealing with the consequences of natural disasters, combating corruption and ﬁghting anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance. In accordance with traditional practice, Chairman-in-Ofﬁce Karel De Gucht and Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut both addressed the session and

FAQs

What is the primary task of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly?

To support inter-parliamentary dialogue as a key part of efforts to meet democracy challenges across the OSCE region.

How do the Assembly’s annual declarations and recommendations function?

The Assembly passes declarations each year, forwarding them to governments and OSCE institutions as the collective voice of participating parliaments.

Where are the Assembly’s international secretariat and research support located?

The international secretariat is hosted in Copenhagen by the Danish Parliament, with a small liaison office in Vienna and research fellows working in both Copenhagen and Vienna.

Sep 20, 2026

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