Goran Lennmarker elected President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Over 200 parliamentarians from across the OSCE region took part in the Session in Brussels, in which the Assembly also passed the Brussels Declaration which includes recommendations in the fields of security, economics, environmental affairs and humanitarian issues.

President Lennmarker thanked the Assembly for its support, and vowed to continue working for a strong Parliamentary Assembly within the OSCE. "We have today passed a strong Declaration with recommendations in a number of important fields. I look forward to pursuing all of these issues with great energy, and to working together with my colleagues to this end," he said.

The Brussels Declaration is a collective work by the Members of the Assembly, and includes many concrete proposals. In the Declaration, parliamentarians issue both political and technical recommendations on a range of issues. Specifically, the Declaration calls for increased support for OSCE field missions, with a particular focus on the Balkan region. Co-operation with other international organizations in this field was also called for.

The Parliamentarians also placed particular focus on the importance of the security of energy sources. Dialogue between states to this end, and to ensure reliable supplies of energy was urged. Also, the importance of effective parliamentary oversight of security services was stressed by the Assembly.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly also urged continued political leadership of election observation by parliamentarians, who provide visibility and credibility to such missions. In the declaration, Members also speak out against so-called 'crimes of honour,' and call for legislative action to combat these practices. The Assembly also included calls for great attention to the protection of childrens' rights, and legal moves to combat child pornography.

The gathered parliamentarians also issued specific calls to OSCE states to ensure that their territory is not used to assist rendition flights or to operate secret detention centres, and called for investigations into allegations that their territories have been used to this end.

Recommendations on settling the Transdniestrian conflict in Moldova, on dealing with the consequences of natural disasters, combating corruption, and on anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance were also issued by the parliamentarians.

The Assembly offered strong support to the work of the United Nations in Afghanistan, and recommended further consideration of greater co-operation with representatives of Afghanistan.

On the final day, the Assembly also elected four Vice-Presidents. Benjamin Cardin (USA), Joao Soares (Portugal), and Tone Tingsgfrd (Sweden) were all elected for a period of three years, and Wolfgan Grossruck (Austria) was elected for one year.

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