OSCE co-ordinates sharing of ballot boxes between Armenian and Georgian elections

YEREVAN/TBILISI, 29 October 2003 - Regional co-ordination between two OSCE missions has led to the signing of an agreement between Armenia's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and its counterpart in Georgia, covering the loan of 1,000 of Armenia's transparent ballot boxes for use during the forthcoming Georgian parliamentary elections on 2 November.

"This is a good example of supportive regional co-operation in the southern Caucasus in support of democratic elections," said Ambassador Roy Reeve, who recently moved from Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan to become Head of the Organization's Mission to Georgia.

The agreement was signed yesterday by Hamlet Abrahamyan, Deputy Chairman of the Armenian CEC, who thanked the OSCE for its assistance in facilitating the loan of the boxes to the Georgian CEC. He felt this was a good sign of co-operation.

Nodar Yepremidze, representing the Georgian CEC, expressed his full gratitude to his Armenian colleagues for their generosity, noting that the boxes would contribute their part to the transparency of the elections.

The OSCE Office in Yerevan has worked together with the OSCE Mission to Georgia to make this loan possible. Both offices were actively involved in arranging the agreement, as well as handling the technical side of the transfer between the two CECs. The boxes are now being transported from Yerevan to Tbilisi.

Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, Head of OSCE Office in Yerevan, added, "This is a very positive sign, with one young democracy helping another young democracy, and the OSCE Office is very pleased to have been involved in this process."

Following the elections in Georgia, under the agreement the boxes are due to be returned to the Armenian CEC for future use in that country's elections.