OSCE Chairman's envoy calls on Armenian authorities to lift state of emergency

VIENNA, 13 March 2008 - Ambassador Heikki Talvitie, the special envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, called today on the Armenian authorities to lift the state of emergency and engage in a dialogue with the opposition to resolve tensions following unrest after the 19 February presidential elections.

He said that it was in the interest of the government of Armenia to act now to resolve the crisis.

"The inauguration of the elected president is approaching. In this situation, I think that the government should get rid of its state of emergency and start a real political dialogue with the opposition," he said, briefing the OSCE Permanent Council following two recent visits to Armenia.

He noted that the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva, had appealed to the parties to use political dialogue to resolve the crisis.

On the frozen conflict in the Transdniestra region of Moldova, he said that the Finnish Chairmanship was trying to restart negotiations under the existing formats and that he was "lightly optimistic" about the outcome of those efforts.

"If we are going to proceed (with negotiations), it needs further engagement from the Chairman-in-Office and myself," he said. "We should pay attention to the current momentum and do our best to get the process moving."

The Permanent Council is an OSCE decision-making body, chaired by the country holding the OSCE's annually rotating Chairmanship - this year, Finland.