Special Co-ordinaters designated for elections in Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine

WARSAW, 13 March - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek, has designated Special Co-ordinators for three upcoming elections that the OSCE is observing.

For the 16 March presidential elections in Armenia, Mr. Geremek nominated Ms. Tone Tingsgard, a member of the Swedish Parliament. In Moldova, Mr. Markus Aatonen, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament, has been designated for the 22 March parliamentary elections. And for the 29 March parliamentary elections in Ukraine, Mr. Andras Barsony, Vice President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and member of the Hungarian Parliament will take up the Special Co-ordinator role.

All three are members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The Special Co-ordinators will lead the short-term election observation mission which covers the voting procedures on election day. The observers generally come from various OSCE countries, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and other parliamentary delegations, foreign embassies and NGOs.

In all three countries, the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has deployed long-term observers, who are assessing the election laws and monitoring the election campaign.

A preliminary statement will be delivered shortly after the election and will be based on the findings of both the long-term and short-term observers. It will be followed by a more comprehensive final report containing concrete recommendations a few weeks later.

Election observation missions are organized by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and closely cooperate with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly as well as other observation bodies.