News from Copenhagen Number 97 Current Information from the OSCE PA International Secretariat 17 December 2003 OSCE Parliamentarians, ODIHR to Lead Observation of Presidential Elections in Georgia High level OSCE PA Leadership will observe the 4 Janu- The delegation will also include Secretary-General Spen- ary 2004 presidential elections in Georgia. The Delegation cer Oliver, Press Counsellor Jan Jooren, and Programme will be headed by President Bruce George, who has been Offi cer Tina Schøn from the International Secretariat. appointed Special Co-ordinator of the incoming OSCE On 5 January, President George will deliver the pre- Chairman-in-Offi ce, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon liminary post-election statement in conjunction with other Passy, to lead the OSCE Short-Term Observation Mission appropriate offi cials, representing the Council of Europe for these elections. PA, the European Parliament and the OSCE Offi ce for President George has appointed Senator Jerry Grafstein Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). (Canada), the Assembly’s Treasurer, Deputy Head of the The OSCE Election Observation Mission is a joint effort OSCE PA Observer Group, which also includes Vice-Presi- between the OSCE/ODIHR and the OSCE PA. The ODIHR dents Barbara Haering (Switzerland) and Giovanni Kessler deploys long-term observers in the fi eld several weeks (Italy). Another twenty Members from Austria, Belgium, before election day as well as short-term observers sec- Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithua- onded by OSCE participating States, and provides the nia, the Netherlands, Turkey and United Kingdom have framework for the deployment of the short-term parliamen- also registered for this mission. tary observers. The OSCE Parliamentarians work in close co-operation The OSCE Observation Mission will provide an assess- with other international parliamentary institutions such as ment of the conduct of the elections, the political campaign the Council of Europe PA and the European Parliament. and the role of the media. Head of Norwegian Delegation Visits Copenhagen Vice-President Ostash to Lead Serbian Election Observers Twelve Parliamentarians from nine coun- tries will participate in the OSCE PA’s election observation mission to Serbia on 28 December 2003. Vice-President of the PA, Ihor Ostash (Ukraine), will lead the Delegation. Other Members are Gert Weisskirchen (Ger- many, Vice-President of the PA), Wolfgang Grossruck (Austria), Francoise Colinia (Bel- Mr. Bjørn Hernæs, Head of the He was accompanied by the new gium), Patrick Moriau (Belgium), Anissa Temsa- Norwegian Delegation to the OSCE Norwegian Secretary of Delegation, mani (Belgium), Søren Søndergaard (Denmark), PA, paid a visit to the International Mr. Allon Groth. Following the visit Jozsef Ekes (Hungary), Gabor Hars (Hungary), Secretariat on December 11 to review to Copenhagen, they travelled to Kjell Engebretsen (Norway), Ciril Pucko (Slov- the PA’s plans for the coming year. Warsaw for a visit to the ODIHR enia) and Thomas Cox (UK). Mr. Hernæs, who participated in the offi ces. During the visit to Copen- The Delegation will be accompanied by OSCE PA election observation mis- hagen, discussions were also held Pentti Väänänen, Deputy Secretary General and sion in both Moscow and St. Peters- on the preparations for the Regional Igors Aizstraus, Secretary of the Latvian Del- burg, discussed the role of the PA Seminar to be hosted by the Norwe- egation. and the ODIHR in election mon- gians in 2005, including proposed On 27 December, the parliamentarians will itoring and presented some ideas subjects for consideration at the have meetings and a briefi ng session in Bel- about how the work can be further event. grade. improved. Mr. Hernæs also conveyed an The election observation mission will be a This was the second visit made invitation from the Speaker of the joint operation between the OSCE PA, ODIHR by Mr. Hernæs to the International Norwegian Stortinget to President and the Council of Europe PA. The three insti- Secretariat since he has been Chair- George to pay an offi cial visit to tutions will issue a joint preliminary stement on man of the Norwegian Delegation. Norway in the near future. 29 December. For further information please contact: Secretary General R. Spencer Oliver, and Mr. Jan Jooren, Counsellor, Public Affairs, E-mail [email protected], Tel: +45 33 37 80 40, Fax: +45 33 37 80 30..