Swedish parliamentarian leads OSCE election observers in Armenia

COPENHAGEN, 26 May 1999 - Ms. Tone Tingsgaard MP will arrive in Yerevan on the 28 May to lead the OSCE observers for the Parliamentary Elections in Armenia on Sunday 30 May. Appointed by OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Knut Vollebæk, as his Special Representative, Ms. Tingsgaard will lead some 200 international observers deployed by the OSCE throughout the country and deliver the preliminary assessment in conjunction with other appropriate officials on behalf of the international community on Monday 31 May.

The OSCE observer team includes 22 representatives of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly from 12 OSCE countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Kazakstan, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States. A delegation of parliamentarians from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly will also participate.

The OSCE Election Observation Mission is a joint effort between the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and includes long-and short-term observers from OSCE participating States. The OSCE Observation Mission will assess the conduct of the elections, the political campaign and the role of the media. Long-term observers have already been deployed for several weeks across the country. This week the short-term observers will be deployed in Armenia by the OSCE Election Observation Mission.