🚨 Applications are open for our spring 2027 Max Kampelman fellowship program. Fellows join a team of experts focused on promoting military security, human rights, and economic cooperation across Europe, Eurasia, and North America.

To apply, visit: csce.gov/who-we-are/joi…

Tonight, for the 16th time this year alone, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has lost all external power. Once again, nuclear safety at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP depends on emergency diesel generators, with fuel reserves sufficient for only around two weeks of limited operation.

The sheer recklessness of this situation is staggering. The same country that illegally occupies the plant continues to devastate Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, putting European nuclear safety at serious risk.

Russia has no right to hold an entire continent hostage to the consequences of its occupation. Moscow has turned nuclear safety into another instrument of blackmail, demonstrating a cynical disregard for the risks its actions pose. The Kremlin cannot pretend that the consequences of its actions will somehow remain confined to Ukraine.

We appreciate the continued efforts of @iaeaorg Director General @rafaelmgrossi and his team to safeguard nuclear safety at the plant.

Russia has been and remains the only source of safety risks and power supply problems. This is the Kremlin’s cynicism at its most dangerous: creating nuclear risks while obstructing efforts to address them.

The international response must finally match the scale of the danger. Sanctions against Rosatom are long overdue. A corporation directly involved in the illegal occupation of a nuclear power plant cannot continue enjoying business as usual internationally.

Europe’s nuclear safety cannot remain at the mercy of the country that deliberately put it at risk. The only sustainable solution is the return of the Zaporizhzhia NPP to its rightful owner and operator, Ukraine.

Insider: The Constitutional Court in Tbilisi has begun hearing a case brought by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which seeks to ban the country’s five main opposition parties.

Just a few years ago, Georgia was considered a model of democratic development in the region.
theins.press/en/politics/29…

NEW: Worrying update on the situation of Vadym Golda, one of three imprisoned OSCE staff members. According to a statement from the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group, Golda was last in touch with his family on Oct. 15. It is unknown where he is now. 1/

Grateful to Rep. @Robert_Aderholt for emphasizing the critical work that our @RFERL @AzattyqRadiosy colleagues do. We are proud to serve our audiences in Kazakhstan.

Thank you Rep. @Robert_Aderholt for highlighting the essential role of @RFERL’s Kazakh Service @AzattyqRadiosy.

It is troubling that the Kazakh government is delaying accreditation for @RFERL journalists. For over 70 years, RFE/RL has provided fair and unbiased news to the people of Kazakhstan, and held a presence inside the country for more than 30 years. 

As the lead sponsor of bipartisan legislation to grant Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Kazakhstan, I believe closer U.S. engagement in Central Asia is vital to address critical minerals vulnerabilities and to counter Chinese influence in a strategic region. It is vital that RFE/RL, a Congressionally funded news organization, continues to operate freely inside Kazakhstan.

Let the grad students in your life know that they should apply to come join us for the beginning of the 120th Congress!

Today, Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAPO, released investigative materials that have shocked the country.

But beyond the horrifying details, they reveal four important truths about Ukraine’s fight against corruption.

When Ukrainians created NABU and SAPO, we imagined they would investigate high-level white-collar corruption involving ministers, oligarchs, and senior officials. Few of us imagined they would uncover allegations of such brutal organized crime.

The recordings released as part of Operation Carthage-2 include discussions of attacking investigative journalists and activists with acid, assaulting a Mariupol defender and former prisoner of war with hammers, and accounts of people being brutally beaten, including a woman attacked with a metal pipe on the street at night.

These materials expose something much larger than a criminal investigation.

First, independent institutions inevitably begin exposing corruption within the old institutions.

NABU and SAPO were created to investigate top-level corruption. Yet some of that corruption involve law enforcement officials protecting organized criminal networks rather than dismantling them.

Second, organized crime systematically seeks protection across the entire unreformed law enforcement system. Earlier investigative materials pointed to alleged prosecutorial protection of fraudulent call centers. The latest materials raise questions about connections involving the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is expected.

The alleged criminal activities protected by corrupt law enforcement officials extend beyond fraud to drug trafficking, counterfeit currency, and violent attacks.

Third, fighting corruption is part of Ukraine’s struggle to break with its Soviet and Russian past.

The Soviet legacy left behind criminal networks operating across borders, often intertwined with security and law enforcement structures.

The alleged involvement of a Russian criminal figure alongside Ukrainian officials illustrates why dismantling these networks is also a matter of national security. There is also a mention of how Russian FSB was used by criminals to attack a NABU detective.

I repeatedly explain this during international meetings: Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms are not merely about good governance. They are part of our strategic separation from Russia and the Soviet system.

Fourth, the political dimension demands further investigation.

The recordings contain references to political contacts, including a former interior minister, as well as a former health minister and possible meetings with MP David Arakhamia.

Such references do not establish wrongdoing by those politicians. But they raise legitimate questions about the political connections that criminal networks believed they could rely upon.

Those connections must be investigated further.

Ultimately, the question is how deeply has organized crime penetrated Ukraine’s law enforcement and political institutions?

This is precisely why the independence of NABU and SAPO matters. Ukraine must have institutions capable of investigating powerful networks, regardless of their connections.

As a member of NABU’s Public Oversight Council, I am proud of the work these institutions are doing and grateful for their courage.

And I am happy that Ukrainians successfully defended independence of NABU and SAPO by peaceful protests in the streets during a full-scale war.

The work of NABU and SAPO is about our democratic resilience and defending our sovereignty.

Russia kills 29 in 'horrific attack' on aid distribution centre in Ukraine politi.co/4zuLoxk

I am deeply grateful to Senator Roger Wicker for his warm congratulations and kind wishes as I assume the Presidency of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
But today, I would like to express my gratitude to Senator Wicker in a much more personal way.
I still remember our very first ered that we shared a particular affection for the wonderful film Charlie Wilson’s War, starring the legendary Tom Hanks and telling the extraordinary story of an equally legendary American congressman.
And I remember how genuinely amazed I was to learn that Senator Wicker had personally known Charlie Wilson, representative of Democratic Party, by the way - and had even had the privilege of serving the American people alongside him.
For me, that moment was about much more than a shared appreciation of a great movie. It was about discovering a living connection to a remarkable tradition of American political courage.
The Republican Party has a proud and enduring tradition of standing for freedom and confronting tyranny. From Abraham Lincoln to Ronald Reagan, generations of Republican leaders have understood that liberty is never guaranteed - and that defending it sometimes demands extraordinary courage, determination, and sacrifice.
And American history teaches us another powerful lesson: when Republicans and Democrats have stood together in defense of freedom, when they have united their strength and led the democratic world with conviction, even the most formidable tyrannies have ultimately fallen.
Those days are not behind us.
This was true yesterday. It is true today. And I firmly believe it will remain true tomorrow.
Especially now, when the free world is once again called upon to defend the great promise articulated by one of the greatest Republicans in American history - President Abraham Lincoln:
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
These are not merely words engraved in history. They are a solemn obligation entrusted to every generation that believes in freedom.
Because the very essence of liberty lies in the right of every human being, and every nation, to determine their own destiny - free from tyranny, oppression, and the dictates of those who believe that might makes right.
Today, Ukraine is fighting for precisely these principles. And in defending them, we are defending something far greater than our own country.
Dear Senator Wicker, thank you for your friendship, your steadfast support for Ukraine, and your unwavering commitment to the values that have made America a beacon of freedom for generations.
I am proud to stand alongside you in this struggle.
And I believe, with all my heart, that when free people stand together, tyranny does not have the final word.
Freedom does.

I am deeply grateful to my dear colleague, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, for his warm and encouraging letter, his congratulations, and, above all, his unwavering commitment to Ukraine.

My sincere gratitude also goes to every member of the United States delegation to the OSCE - Republicans and Democrats alike.

Throughout these difficult years, we have never doubted your bipartisan support. We have always known that we could count on your friendship, solidarity, and principled commitment to the values we share.

The United States was among the founding nations of the Helsinki process. Its leadership has been essential in defending the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, human rights, and international law.

Today, when these very principles are being challenged, we need that American leadership more than ever - within the OSCE, its Parliamentary Assembly, and across the international community.

As President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I sincerely hope that the United States will continue to play the role that history, its democratic traditions, and its global responsibilities have entrusted to it: a steadfast defender of international law, freedom, and the right of every nation to determine its own future.

Dear Senator Whitehouse, dear American colleagues and friends - thank you for standing with Ukraine. I look forward to continuing our work together, not only for Ukraine, but for the principles that unite us all.

Novaya Gazeta’s journalists endured incredible state pressure as they delivered real news to the Russian public. Some were even murdered for their work. Its legacy continues through those who continue to pursue truth, even if they can no longer do so from their own country

Today is International Political Prisoners Day.

As lawyer Jasmine Cameron discusses, thousands of Ukrainian civilians are suffering in Russian prisons, sent there for their roles as local government officials, human rights defenders, or because they support their country. ⤵️

@Natalia_Budaevato Nate Sibley, Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, for organizing and moderating the briefing, and to our fellow panelists Margaryta Shabanova, spouse of detained OSCE official Dmytro Shabanov, and Jasmine Cameron, visiting scholar at American University Washington College of Law and founder of Juridia, for their important contributions to this discussion.

Free Russia Foundation President @Natalia_Budaeva Arno spoke at yesterday’s U.S. Helsinki Commission briefing on Ukrainian civilians unlawfully detained by Russia.

She called for a dedicated mechanism to secure their release, stronger international oversight, and sustained locate detainees and document abuses.

“We can find people Russia is trying to hide. We can help families get answers. And we can help bring people home.”

“On this International Day of Political Prisoners, we pledge to continue advocating for the release of all those imprisoned for exercising their fundamental rights.”

Joint statement by special rapporteurs from @PACE_News and @oscepa @AzadehRojhan @RepCohen.

pace.coe.int/en/news/10486

There are more than 1 million political prisoners around the world, behind bars for daring to speak, worship, assemble, and express themselves freely.

Today, @NEDemocracy honored leaders who have worked tirelessly to free them. Their efforts remind us that standing with those proud American tradition.

Join us tomorrow at the Lincoln Memorial to honor the struggle of those persecuted for their opinions and beliefs around the world.

Their names and stories cannot be forgotten. Stand with them and demand their freedom.

#FreedomStartsWithAName
ned.org/events/roll-ca…

What does it mean for a married couple to be torn apart? Margaryta Shabanova describes what life has been like since Russian forces took her husband Dmytro, a Ukrainian civilian, into captivity in 2022.

Listen to Margaryta’s full account: youtube.com/live/cpjyQ3hLC…