Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

MINSK, 16 October 2000 - The Parliamentary Troika, composed of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, issued a Report on the political situation in Belarus in the light of the parliamentary elections following a visit to Belarus from 12 to 16 October 2000 which took place as part of the continuing endeavours of the three institutions to encourage the development and consolidation of the democratic process in Belarus.

The Technical Assessment Mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) deployed for the 15 October 2000 parliamentary elections in Belarus today issued a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions.

The OSCE/ODIHR Statement of Preliminary Finding and Conclusions, and the Parliamentary Troika Report on the Political Situation in Belarus in the Light of the Parliamentary Elections of October 15th are available on the OSCE website, http://www.osce.org

For further information, please contact: Jan Jooren, Press Counsellor of the OSCE PA, e-mail press.counsellor@oscepa.dk, tel. +45 33378040, fax. +45 33378030; or Elisabeth Rasmusson, Head of the ODIHR Technical Assessment Mission in Minsk (+375.17.270.39.94); or Andy Bruce, ODIHR Election Adviser, or Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer, ODIHR Public Affairs Officer, in Warsaw (+48.22.520.0600).