OSCE States pledge almost four million euros for assisting Georgia in 2004 elections

TBILISI, 19 December 2003 - As of today, almost four million euros have been pledged by 17 OSCE participating States for the "Georgia Elections Assistance Programme", said the Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, Ambassador Roy Reeve.

The announcement was made at a press conference today in Tbilisi. Of this sum, more than two million euros will be used for technical assistance for the presidential elections scheduled for 4 January 2004. The "Georgia Elections Assistance Programme" is focused on supporting Georgia in holding presidential and parliamentary elections in accordance with OSCE standards.

"This emphasizes how important the OSCE participating States consider the forthcoming elections under the new circumstances," said Ambassador Reeve.

"The OSCE will continue to support Georgia in the development of transparent election processes and long-term democratic institutions."

The Mission established excellent working relations at many levels with the Government of Georgia, the Central Election Commission (CEC), a variety of national and international NGOs, some of which were chosen as partners for projects to be implemented in the framework of the Programme.

"In my meetings with the Minister of Finance and the CEC Chairman, they have expressed their appreciation for the generous support provided by the OSCE participating States and their determination to make the best possible use of resources made available to them," added Ambassador Reeve.

Despite the tight schedule, the Mission has finalized the groundwork for nine projects supporting Georgia in the pre-election period, among them support for election administrative bodies, training, voter marking, parallel vote tabulation, and voter education.